Stars in the Sky
by Cammie-the-chameleon
Summary: Mina Donnelly just wants a normal year at school, especially after having been petrified last year. She wants to play quidditch, get house points, and avoid any and all boy drama. Can she and her friends get through with their wits still about them, or will they find life at Hogwarts can never be normal? Starts at Prisoner of Azkaban; slow burn, eventual Fred X OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: You know how these go, J.K. Rowling owns the _Harry Potter_ Franchise and I am simply an admirer who makes no money off of this. **

* * *

Clambering onto the bench, Mina looked around at the rowdy room. Her fellow Ravenclaws were abuzz with the new school year, trying to guess how many first years they would get. They had a bet with Hufflepuff on that they would get more, and Mina really didn't want to lose a galleon this early in the school year. There was an excitement in the Great Hall that really only happened at the start of term, especially at the prospect of the feast that would soon be before them. Her mouth was already watering.

She let out a small smile as her friend, and fellow Ravenclaw, almost fell onto the seat with a small 'ouch'.

"I really hate Jae, have I ever mentioned that before?" Anne-Marie said while rubbing her arm, glaring at the Slytherin who she was talking about. The aforementioned girl snickered and slipped her hand out for a high five to one of her cronies.

"Just a couple hundred thousand times."

"Well, I bloody mean it. How can someone be that cruel just for the fun of it? If I were anything like her, I'd hex her into the next century," Her friend brushed her red hair over her shoulder.

Mina shot her a look, not ready for a fight this soon into the semester. If they scared the first years off then she'd definitely lose her money.

"I won't do it, of course! I said if I were like her," Anne-Marie schooled her features before continuing. "Anyways, I'll prob just slip her a draught that makes her food taste like butter later in the semester," She let out a devious grin.

Anne-Marie Moore had been one of her best friends since her first year, and frankly she scared Mina sometimes. Sometimes Mina couldn't help but think about how she was a Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor. She was truly a bright witch, who just so happened to apply herself to some questionable things. Like draughts that made food taste like butter. With a name like hers, Anne-Marie had been the topic of bullying since their first year ('could you have any Moore names, Anne-Marie?' got old pretty quickly), but Anne, as she liked to be called, was quick on her feet and threw whatever back at her abusers. Most of whom have learned by now that it wasn't worth the time to mess with her.

Anne dodged Mina's pointed look, instead turning to another housemate striking up a conversation on something that wasn't what they were currently talking about.

Mina took the moment to let her eyes rest on the Gryffindor table for a moment. Particularly one Oliver Wood.

He was quite the looker, and like one too many girls she may have fancied him just a smidge. But she had a strict, 'no boy trouble' rule, deciding that as a whole they caused more damage romantically instead of good. But they were still good to look at. Especially when their eyes twinkled as they talked.

She blinked as two arms came down in front of her on the other side of the table, the body they belonged to cutting off her view. Bugger.

"Whatcha looking at, Mina?" Aiden smiled down at her, a lot further down than last year she noted, as he took his seat.

"Just checking out the competition," she said, tilting her head to the quidditch players sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Anne cut away from her conversation halfway through, smiling knowingly at Mina.

'Oh, you're checking them out alright." Mina stepped on her foot, Anne let out a small 'Ow! That hurt, you know!', and Aiden either didn't hear or pretended not to hear. Most Likely the latter.

"Anyways, it's not like I had much time last year to play against them. I've got to size them up now or they'll get the better of me. Can't have my good name being tainted." They sobered up for a moment at the mention of her being petrified for the better part of the previous year. But Aiden was always quick to a joke.

"I can hear it now. 'That Mina Donnelly could really do with a flying class! She won the game, but I don't like the face she makes when she scores. It looks like this'," Aiden twitched his eye jokingly, poking fun at her.

"No, it's more like this," Anne made a scrunched up face, and Mina put her head in her hands as this continued for the next minute or so. They were referring to her first game their second year, where she sneezed after she scored a goal just as the snitch had been caught. They were over exaggerating it, but her team had told her she was allergic to winning for a month. (Although, if you asked Madam Pomfrey, she had just been coming down with the flu, though no one would take Mina's word at that.)

She groaned as they kept trying to one up another, getting more and more outrageous with each face, but let out a small smile at her friends.

Aiden threw back his head with laughter at a particularly bad face that Anne made, and put up his hands in defeat. Anne did a small fake bow, and Mina buried her head back into her hands at how embarrassing her friends were. Aiden nodded his head up at the head table that the professors were seated at.

"New defense against the dark arts professor?"

"You know it. New year, new professor. Like clockwork. Hopefully he actually knows what he's doing instead of just boasting about how many books he's written instead," Mina rolled her eyes at the though of Lockhart. In the short time she had spent attending classes last year, she had a low opinion of him within the first couple of classes. What a complete and utter git.

"I don't know, at least Lockhart was nice to look at. Although, he's not too bad either, but I prefer my men blonde," Anne said as she twirled some hair around her finger.

"You also prefer them dumb as bricks," Mina received a playful elbow to her ribs at her comment.

"Hey!" Anne started, "I can't help it. They're just so wrong and hopeless. He tried telling me to cast a spell that would've melded my shoes to my feet, and I knew it was love," She let out a dreamy sigh. Aiden and Mina shared a look, trying to communicate that they knew they were the only sane ones left in their trio.

"I'm not even going to pretend to get that," Aiden said as Dumbledore stood to give his speech. Anne was frantically waving at Aiden to get him to be quiet, despite having finished what he had said. He gave her an annoyed look, but Anne ignored him, hanging on the edge of her seat.

Mina smiled, ready for what this year had in store for her.

* * *

 **Hey! It's been ages since I've written** **fan fiction (at least on this website), but I've finally crawled back because I really wanted to write this story. I know that this is a little short but I didn't want to tire myself out.**

 **If you have any favorite tropes let me know, because I very much want to put as many of my favorite tropes into this, and if I can make it fit I'll throw yours in too.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed if you checked it out, I'll pop out another chapter when I can.**


	2. Chapter 2

Mina was so not ready for what this year had in store for her.

She had two potions essays, one for transfiguration, several pages of arithmancy homework, a project to finish up for astronomy, and most importantly several quidditch practices had already been scheduled. She was just about at her wits end, and she must've looked it, because when Anne stepped into the room after getting ready in the morning she pulled a face.

"Surely I don't look that bad?"

Anne's face morphed from disgust into a kinder look.

"Not bad but... maybe go take a shower... and clean up your mess."

Mina looked to the mess of various books and paper scattered across her bed. She saw one of her quills had made it's way under her pillow somehow, and she had enough parchment out to supply the entire fifth year. She reached a hand up to her hair, which had a knot in it. It was a little bit much she had to admit, but she had woken up early to tackle some of her homework, and having only knocked out the essays, she was still very much overwhelmed. She tugged at her curly hair before letting out a sigh.

"Alright, mom," She ignored the pillow Anne threw at her, and her way to the bathroom in their dorm.

By the time she was out of the bathroom, hair brushed through although still wet from her shower and a minimal amount of makeup applied, her other dormmates had finally woken up and dragged themselves down to the great hall, or elsewhere. Mina looked to Anne, raising an eyebrow.

"They're out on the prowl," Mina's eyebrows bunched together in confusion. Anne rolled her eyes, before continuing, "They're out there trying to get their flirt on with Aiden. We should probably hurry up and go save him."

Mina's eyes widened. She hurriedly got dressed, as Anne dawdled having already gotten ready, and shoved things in her back quickly before thy ran down the stairs to go save their friend.

* * *

Aiden was trapped. His back to the couch he had no other means of escaping the three Ravenclaw girls viscously trying to flirt with him. He considered vaulting over the couch, but thought against it when he saw their prefect sitting there reading a book. He guided his way out of the pack slowly flipping on them, before nervously starting to talk.

"Ladies, I'd love to chat, really I would, but I have to go upstairs and grab my bag," He said, backing up towards the stairs slowly.

"But Aiden, your bags right here! You dropped it, because you were so excited to talk to us, remember?" One of the girls chimed in, and there the little traitor was indeed, sitting five inches away from her foot. He cautiously looked at her for a moment, before quickly picking up his bag.

"Right you are, but actually I have to-"

"Oi," Aiden looked up panicked, but a look of relief spread onto his face. He had been stuck against a wall with no way out, having been trapped by the Ravenclaw girls.

"The showers open now to whichever of you wants it," Mina said, and before her sentence was over the three girls were pushing each other up the stairs, before a rattling slam of the door told them they were gone.

"Boy am I glad to see you two," Aiden said.

"You're lucky we came when we did, five more minutes and they would've been tearing your clothes off," Aiden's face paled at Anne's joke.

Mina elbowed Anne.

"Ouch. What was that for? Oh!" Anne said, finally taking the hint, "Oh Aiden, Of course they wouldn't have torn your clothes off here. Not in front of the prefect anyways."

Mina rolled her eyes at Anne's teasing, instead choosing to walk to the great hall while they were still serving breakfast. Anne caught up after her, and slowly Aiden did too. They walked in silence for a minute before Aiden talked again in a rattled breath.

"You guys were kidding, right? They wouldn't really jump me?"

Anne and Mina shared a look, before Mina smiled comfortingly at Aiden, knowing her next words would have the opposite effect.

"Aiden, they'd jump your bones in a second if you'd let them."

"Key words: If you'd let them. It ain't no fun without consent."

This time it was Aiden who pushed Anne, "Gross, we don't want to hear about your escapades."

Anne flipped her hair over her shoulder in a joking manner, and stood up tall with authority in he voice, despite being the shortest out of all of them.

"Listen, just because your jealous-" Mina snorted, and Anne glared at her, "just because both of you are so incredibly jealous that I've had mature relationships, doesn't mean you have to attack me like this."

Mina let out a laugh.

"Who said anything about being jealous, we just said we don't want to hear it. Especially when we're just about to eat. I don't need to lose my appetite and get hungry in the middle of potions."

"Snape would probably take points away from us, and it'd be your fault, Anne. Now, how can you live knowing you took points away from Ravenclaw," Aiden held a stern look, but he was fighting to keep a smile off his face at the joke.

Anne shoved both of them with a "sod off", as Aiden let out a boisterous laugh. Mina let out a giggle as their friend stormed off ahead of them, earning them some questioning looks when they walked into the great hall.

* * *

Mina really liked transfiguration. Maybe because Professor McGonagall was always kind to her, and offered her extra classes to get ahead when to was quidditch season, or maybe because she was able to sit near her friends.

Or maybe it was because as her and Anne were seated towards the back, they were possibly as far away from some certain red heads as they could be.

Who knew. (Mina knew: it was the last one.)

So when Professor McGonagall spoke up as they were quietly working, Mina thought maybe, just this once, the twins wouldn't have been causing any trouble. Maybe the professor had just remembered a helpful tip with the lesson. Mina was being hopeful and optimistic. Mina may have also been a little stupid.

"It's not even two weeks into the year and you two are already at it _again_." Professor McGonagall was trying to keep her voice down, but this didn't stop everyone from looking over. There were tons of paper birds flying around their desk, showing that instead of studying they had been writing notes about who knows what. Mina got excited for a second. Maybe they'd get detention, or extra homework, or both. But when Professor McGonagall spoke her face blanched.

"Honestly, am I going to have to separate you like children?" Professor McGonagall looked around the room and Mina hoped she was looking at the desk in front of them. Please be looking at the desk in front of us, she begged mentally.

"Ms. Moore, will you please come up and sit next to Mr. Weasley. And Mr. Weasley," she continued gesturing to the other twin, "you will go and sit back with Ms. Donnelly."

Mina sat eyes wide open. Maybe there was another Ms. Moore and Ms. Donnelly in the class that she didn't know about, but when Anne scooped up her stuff, she knew that this class just became her least favorite. Anne moved slowly to the front, trying to prolong the moment as long as possible.

"I want you two to know this is in no way a punishment for you," Professor McGonagall said to the two girls who were being separated, "I'm just hoping you will impose some sort of lesson onto them on how to properly behave in a class." She rounded her way back to her desk sitting down at the front of the classroom.

As one of the twins sat down next to her roughly placing his stuff at the desk, Mina met Anne's blue eyes desperately, sitting back in her seat trying to garner the patience of an angel.

The room was silent, everyone having lost interest by now, and whichever of the twins next to her had pulled out a book and pretended to read. Mina took a quiet breath, before turning her page, knowing she wasn't going to be able to read a word more of her textbook for the rest of class.

* * *

"Honestly, they aren't terrible, Mina." Aiden said at lunch.

Mina looked over at the Gryffindor table where the Weasley twins were currently throwing food back and forth with Lee Jordan. A look of disgust crossed her face. Her brown eyes met Aiden's as she tried to make him understand, that it truly was terrible.

"How can you even say that when you know what they did our first year?" Anne jumped in.

"I get that they pulled a prank on you two, but really holding a grudge about it for four years is not a good thing to do."

"No you know what is a good thing to do, Mina jumping in front of me to make sure I wouldn't get the brunt of it. Making sure I didn't have to go through that alone. What's not good is picking on the kid who's already getting picked on," Anne verbally fought back, not willingly to let the matter drop.

"It's a big school they probably didn't know you were getting picked on. I barely knew at the time and we're in the same house, Anne. Tell her she's being unreasonable Mina," Aiden looked to her, hoping for her to jump to his side, forgetting where she stood on the issue.

"I have to side with Anne here, Aiden. Those gits picked on a girl already being bullied, and didn't apologize for it. Whether they thought it was funny doesn't count for anything. I know you're friendly with them and that's fine, but we don't have to be friends with them either. Especially when they've just ruined my favorite class." Mina let out a groan. "How am I supposed to do anything now, honestly? I'll be lucky if I can do anything in class with how disruptive the both of them will be."

"And separating us, too," Anne put her hand to her forehead acting faint, "how will I ever survive that class without the tutelage of Miss Mina Mariella Donnelly."

Mina smacked Anne's arm.

"And I was actually gonna miss you, but you pull out my middle name, and admit you just wanted me for my smarts," Mina sniffed, making her eyes wide, "how are we ever going to work this out if you're just using me."

Aiden rolled his eyes at their theatrics, choosing to keep eating instead of join in.

"Honestly you two, it's not the end of the world. You've got other classes together, and you share a dorm. It's not like you're never going to see each other again. You'll live."

Anne shared a look with Mina, before looking him in the eyes, her face a dead pan before answering back, "Just barely."

* * *

 **So, I've got finals coming up in the next two weeks so I'll be cramming for the two tests I have to take, but I'm not sure how updating will be until finals are done. I'll figure it out but maybe I'll write another chapter after my one final? IDK, but frankly I'd rather not commit myself to an update time.**

 **Hope you enjoyed and I'll write another chapter when I can.**


	3. Chapter 3

Mina was slowly losing her mind. Professor McGonagall had assigned a paper for transfiguration. That would've been fine, Mina was slowly but surely tackling her pile of homework, but what made it bad was that it was a partner paper. With her table mate. Which meant Mina was currently sitting in the library with Fred Weasley, who she had finally figured out was the twin who sat next to her, fighting to get this project done with all of her might.

Sadly, either he didn't care or was purposefully antagonizing her, or worse a mixture of the two, and she wanted to pull her own hair out.

She tapped a quill on some parchment, anxiously playing with her necklace as she was trying to figure out what to do.

She reached for another textbook, ignoring the sound of books falling next to her as Fred was without a doubt stacking them up, desperate to find something to get her out of the library quickly.

Flipping the pages of her book aggressively for the thousandth time that hour, she pretended to read, as a crash of noise landed on the table once again. Her eyes flickered over to where Madam Pince was yelling at some first years for sneaking sweets into the library, as she somehow hadn't heard the loud noise. Mina decided she had to come up with something before she was kicked out of the library. Fred was reaching for the books again and she knew she had to act quickly.

She looked over to see that he was in the process of stacking more up. It would've been impressibly tall, if they weren't supposed to be working on the project. She sighed, feeling a headache coming on, and wrote something down quickly on a spare parchment.

Mina cleared her throat causing the books to tumble again, and Fred looked over at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Look, neither of us wants to be here," Mina said tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear, " We'll divy up the work. You can work on the introduction and the conclusion, they should be relatively easy just make sure you include this. I'll work on all the middle stuff. All you have to do is write it down on a separate parchment and I'll put them all together. Then we can be out and on our merry way."

Fred looked over the paper for a second and looked back at her.

"What book did you get this from?"

Mina was shocked at the first words he'd said the entire time they'd been there, but silently pointed at the book, which had been one he had been using for the base of his book tower. He nodded, and Mina got the fact that that was all they were going to say to each other. Good enough for her, she couldn't wait to get out of here.

They'd worked in silence, and by the time Mina was done, Fred was just finishing up. She briefly looked it over, deciding it was decent enough, as long as it got her out of the library, and quickly copied it down onto a parchment with her work. They signed their names on it and quickly were packing up their own belongings to be on their own way. She saw Fred stand up, and she assumed he had walked away as quickly as he could. That's what she would've done anyways if she had been done shoving things in her bag first.

"See you in class."

Mina jumped. She looked up to see Fred hesitantly hanging around the edge of the table staring at her, like he was waiting for an answer.

She mumbled out a quick "yeah, see you", before quickly scurrying out.

She was left with the impression that the whole thing was rather odd, as they had hardly said a word to each other entire time, and was just glad to be out of there.

* * *

"That is kind of odd."

"Tell me about it."

Anne and Mina were sitting out on the lawn by the lake, soaking up the weather while it was still good.

Their bags were strewn across their immediate area along with their belongings, like they were going to work on homework, but in reality they had been long discarded. The bags had since been used as pillows, in Anne's case, and foot rests, in Mina's case. Sunlight streaked down on them through the leaves on the tree, and the lake was still. There were other people variously out on the lawn as well, but they were far enough away from the two girls.

Mina leaned back against the tree behind her, no longer in the hunched position she was in minutes ago as she frantically talked about the library.

"Maybe he's just weird because you beat him in a duel last year," Anne said, looking over to Mina.

"I don't even know if that was him or not," countered Mina.

"But even if it wasn't, beating his brother in a duel has to put you in a bit of bad light in his view. Not to mention you've been kinda terse around him since... forever." Anne said, leaning back against her bag, looking at the clouds through the leaves on the tree.

"Well, iff it isn't my two favorite Ravenclaws."

Both of the girls looked up to see Aiden standing above them, his tie loose against his shirt and his blond hair disheveled.

"Do you mind? We're busy working on homework," Anne bit back, trying to gain some privacy to have a bit of girl time.

Aiden gave one look around at the supplies scattered around them, long untouched and unopened, before looking back at them.

"It sure looks like it," he replied, before plopping down onto the ground across from the two girls. "So what are we talking about?"

There was a pause in the air before Anne responded.

"Mina had a weird exchange with a certain Fred Weasley in the library."

Mina shot Anne a look showing that she wasn't supposed to have told him that.

"It wasn't weird.. but it was a bit odd. We're not very civil. Merlin, we barely even talk to each other is moreso what it is," Aiden nodded, "and Anne seems to believe it's because I won a duel against his brother last year." Mina took a breath before continuing. "If that was the case though, Jae would still be picking on Anne because she won their duel, but she's moved past it, and she's the absolute worst."

Anne's face twisted at the mention of Jae Fellows, the Slytherin who hated her guts. Aiden was shaking his head though.

"You didn't fight his brother, it was him."

Mina raised an eyebrow at him, sitting up a little bit more than her comfortable slouch. Aiden shifted his arms behind him, resting his weight on them. His eyes were closed momentarily as he was trying to soak up the little sunlight peaking through the leaves.

"How d'ya know that it was him?"

Aiden opened his eyes back up.

"Because his brother and Lee were teasing him relentlessly for it afterwords," Aiden said with a small smile on his face. " _Oh Freddy, do we need to take you down to the infirmary for the absolute beating you took? It was wicked, but of course absolutely terrible for you. We won't mention anything more about the absolute walloping that just happened._ I'd probably act weird around you too if that were me."

Mina bit her lip, as Anne broke out laughing. She had maybe used just a little bit more force than needed when Lockhart had chosen both of them to duel, but it's not like they ever had a secondary duel. They wouldn't have had the chance, since she had been petrified shortly after that. Anyways, it was a long time to hold hard feelings when there hadn't been a followup, and she had brought these thoughts up to her friends.

"Oh, and holding a grudge from a prank all the way back from first year isn't?" Aiden arched an eyebrow, and Mina tinted a light hue of red as he continued, "anyways, I think it's less at you and more about how he was teased about it. He's probably trying to figure out how to act around you because it was a soft spot for him for a while. But them you were..." he died down for a moment, "and the teasing went away with that. I don't know, just give it time and he'll probably act normal around you."

"I'd rather him not be around me. Okay, maybe holding a grudge to our fifth year is a little out of line, but I stand by it." Aiden stared at her, and Mina gave in, getting what he was trying to get at. "Fine, fine, I'll work on the grudge. But that doesn't mean I need to talk to him at all."

Aiden maintained his stare.

"I can _try_ to be a little bit nicer to him, but I have no promises," Mina finally caved.

"I second that," Anne said, her hand shooting in the air as she talked with her eyes closed.

"Just because you're friends though. There'd be no attempt otherwise," Mina added.

"Well, I guess that's the most I could ask for."

They sat there peacefully for a bit. Anne with her eyes closed, maybe sleeping or maybe waiting to eavesdrop, Mina staring dazed at the lake and in the general direction of Aiden, and Aiden watching what Mina assumed was a game of football going on behind her.

Aiden suddenly sat up straight, and was casually trying to fix his hair. He glanced at Anne, before turning his attention to Mina.

"Do I have anything in my teeth?" He said, before showing her his mouth.

Mina scrunched her eyebrows together, before shaking her head no, a small smile working it's way onto her face as she had an idea as to what was happening.

"What about my tie, is it on properly?" He asked, this time a little bit more frantic trying to fix it, his attention shifting behind Mina every so often.

She shook her head yes.

"Okay, cool."

They sat quietly for a moment, Mina staring at him as he glanced behind her.

"What's this about?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just gotta look my best at all times." Mina snorted.

"Alright, so if I look over my shoulder I'm not gonna find out about whatever girl you fancy, am I?" Aiden held her gaze for a moment, and Mina slowly started to turn her head before Aiden stopped her.

"Wait, okay, don't look. You're gonna be too obvious." Mina's smile widened more as she knew she had hit her mark.

"Who is she, c'mon, tell me," said Mina, a little excitement at the fact one of her best friends fancied someone.

"I'd rather not say."

Mina frowned.

"I see a Gryffindor trio of boys with a Gryffindor trio of girls. So, my bets on either Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, or Alicia Spinnet. Ew, I also see Jae Fellows, I'm begging you to tell me it's not her." Anne had rolled onto her stomach, so she could watch the people behind them. Mina watched Aiden's face carefully as she listed off those names.

Her grin widened even more as a faint blush spread across his face at the mention of Alicia Spinnet.

"It's not her, Anne. It's gotta be Alicia," Her guess was reaffirmed as his blush deepened.

"Will you quiet down before you blurt it out to the world," Aiden said, wiping a hand over this face.

"Oh shoot, act natural! They're walking over here," Anne said rolled back onto her back, angling herself towards them.

Aiden's eyes widened frantically at them, before taking a deep breath, trying to maintain his cool. By the time the Gryffindor group had made their way over to them slowly, most of Aiden's blush had gone but Mina was still cheekily smiling at him. Anne and Mina were laughing about something as they had come close enough, and Aiden had a sort of sour look on his face that quickly went away.

"And might we ask you two ladies what's so funny?" One of the twins piped up.

"Yeah, we'll have you know there's a strict no fun having out on the lawn, according to Percy," the other twin added.

"Oh, it's just something Aiden said," Anne replied, wiping tears from her eyes as she sat up.

"Yeah, he's an absolute riot," Mina added, eyes twinkling as her smile was still extremely wide, and Aiden shot her the world's quickest look begging her not to say anything. She was too busy with teasing Aiden to realize she was actually having a conversation with the boys she had just said she'd rather avoid.

"Hrm, Aiden, dear," one of them said plopping down onto one side of him, "why don't you ever share any of your jokes with us?"

"Yeah, Aiden, darling," said the other twin as he sat on the opposite side of Aiden, "do tell."

"It's probably because you lot aren't very attractive," Lee said, causing both of the twins to frown, and the girls to all snicker. Mina did her best to hide her grin, but was failing as she made contact with Angelina, who's grin was huge. Mina liked Angelina, they got along well in their classes, and they talked quidditch when they could.

"I think I'm very good looking don't you, Fred?" George asked, peering over Aidens lap to look at his twin.

"Quite the face, George. Though not as good looking as me, obviously," Fred replied, stroking his chin.

"Girls, you're both pretty, there's no need to fight," Angelina piped in.

The twins nodded at each other for a moment, although both still muttering about how they were the more attractive twin.

"So," Aiden started out, "what brings you all over here?"

"Just wanted to see that you'll make it our upcoming game," Katie said.

"Yeah, these two said how it'd be 'the end of the world' if you didn't come support us," piped in Angelina, rolling her eyes.

"Of course we gotta have good luck Aiden here. He's our lucky charm," Fred piped in. Mina didn't even want to ask to follow up on that logic, but a quick look at Anne told her she was also confused.

"It would be nice of you to come," Alicia added in, shooting him a small smile. Aiden smiled back. HIs answer was obvious the second she said that. Mina's smile grew huge, making eye contact with Lee again as he apparently knew what was going on between the two.

"Yeah, of course I'll be there."

"Great," Alicia said.

"Great," Aiden said back.

"Great," George cleared his throat for a moment.

"And of course the both of you are welcome to come cheer on Gryffindor instead of Slytherin," he continued, nodding at Anne and Mina.

"I don't know, I might have some important things to do. Like sleep," Anne said.

"What about some butterbeer next hogshead, if you come _and_ we win?" Lee said, knowing full well if he could secure Aiden's friends, he would for sure show up.

"Would you look at that, my schedules just cleared up," Anne sat up straight.

The attention of the group shifted onto Mina.

"I'll have to check that Madam Pomfrey doesn't need any help beforehand, but if not I'll show up. Who am I to say no to quidditch?" The group cheered, and the twins stood up.

"Well, if you excuse us we have to go recruit more Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to our noble cause," the boys walked off quickly, as the girls rolled their eyes before saying an actual goodbye.

Aiden looked over to Mina as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Thanks for playing nice," he said.

"Well now that I know that you like Alicia, I kinda have to, don't I. I'll live though, but maybe even moreso if I can get a butterbeer at next hogsmeade," Mina hinted.

Aiden laughed.

"Yes, I'll buy you two for your brave sacrifice."

"So, what are you gonna wear," Anne asked excitedly, now laying on her stomach, her legs twisting in the air behind her.

"My... robe?" Aiden asked, not sure of his answer.

"You're kidding me, right? You've gotta look cute, and you're talking about going how you're dressed now?" Anne asked accusatorily.

"Yes?"

"Don't worry you can wear your uniform," Mina chimed in, saving him from Anne momentarily, "but maybe roll up your sleeves or something. Anne can help you out a little bit."

Aiden paled as Anne squealed.

They hashed out what he was going to wear in _very_ excruciating detail. Mina did not envy him one bit.

* * *

 **I was going to wait to put this up until tomorrow, but I just took a final that I know I aced so I'm in a bit of a good mood. Hope you enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 4

There was excitement over the game as it creeped closer, but as much as Mina would've liked to ignore it, homework still had to be done. Thankfully Hermione and her had decided to meet up before lunch in order to knock out the bulk of Arithmancy homework they had built up, and in Mina's case, been avoiding since it had been assigned. They had been quietly working, occasionally sharing a comment with each other on how they did their work, but it had been peaceful. It was one of the reasons why Mina had often sought to work with the younger girl, they had an understanding on how to get things done.

That is until the Gryffindor quidditch team came in, loud as always, talking loudly about how they were going to win the coming game. Mina looked up to see them slowly approaching their approximate area, sighing to herself. She wasn't going to get anything finished. She saw Hermione's friends and decided to cut her loses.

"I don't think we're gonna get anymore work done. I'll catch up with you later and you can show me how you managed to solve that last problem," Mina smiled at her, gathering up her belongings in her arms.

"It's really not that hard, you were almost there," Hermione said hopefully, clearly lying through her teeth.

"You're very kind, but I know I'm almost entirely a lost cause. I'll figure it out eventually but today is most definitely not that day. Anyways I'll leave you to your friends. I hear your house has a riveting game of quidditch coming up, I'm sure they'll want to talk about it."

Hermione groaned, and Mina laughed. She patted her on the shoulder before walking over to her table. Well, she would've gone there if she hadn't of just walked straight into someone.

"Woah there, are you alright," Oliver Wood said, holding her arm steady with his hand, smiling carefully down at her.

has stopped working.

She froze for what felt like forever. Her brain turned to mush. She forgot how to form words. All she could care about was his twinkling eyes, but then she realized the pause was just about to be too long and she forced her mouth to cooperate.

"Me? I should be asking you. You have a big game coming up, can't have you being put in the hospital wing because I ran you over," Mina smiled widely at him. Oh no, that was a stupid joke.

Oliver rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess word traveled pretty quickly about it for some reason," the twins, who were previously staring at them, busied themselves by pretending to talk to Lee, who was confused at being dragged out of a conversation with Katie.

"Anyways, good luck this weekend. Not that you guys will need it, from what I remember you're pretty good," she said, but almost smacked herself in the face. Don't hint at being petrified in front of your crush, she berated herself.

"I sure hope we're better than pretty good, and we've only gotten better since you've last seen us play, no doubt," Oliver said, not seeming to mind that she had led the conversation to an awkward topic.

They sat there in silence for a moment, having run out of things to talk about. One of the twins, unknown to Mina and Oliver who were politely smiling at each other, kept glancing at them both as he held up a nonsensical conversation with his brother and Lee.

The moment ran on until it just toed awkward, although Mina could've sat there and stared at him all day, when she realized she should do something.

"Anyways, just finished up some work. I've got to head to the hospital wing now," Mina waved her book in her hand as she talked.

Oliver's eyebrows scrunched together briefly and she realized how that sounded.

"I help Madam Pomfrey when I can," she continued awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah I forgot about that. You were there that one time when my potion went wrong," Oliver said.

Mina smiled. Whichever Weasley was staring had now dropped his conversation altogether, but still neither Oliver or Mina had noticed. He was however garnering looks from his brother and Lee, as he appeared to be staring off in their general direction.

"Yeah, that was me," she answered dumbly. Why couldn't she have said literally anything else, of course he knew that it was her.

"Well, I'll have you know, I didn't mess up that potion. Some Slytherin dropped something into my cauldron," he said ducking down a little closer to her and lowering his voice like he was letting her in on a secret.

Mina smiled again.

"Ah, and here I've been all along thinking that it happened weekly. I can see it all clearly now," she played along, leaning towards him, her voice also a little quieter.

"I'm glad I could clear that up for you. I don't know what I'd do if my good name had been soiled," they smiled at each other for a moment longer, before they both realized they had been rather close and Mina was supposed to be getting somewhere.

Mina took a small step back, a small flush growing on her face.

"Well, it was good seeing you. I better be off now," she said, walking off, her voice just the slightest bit higher than normal.

She exited the great hall, before having her arm rammed into by her best friend.

"What was that?" Her friend asked nosily.

* * *

"What was what?" Fred said turning back to the conversation.

His friends were looking at him, small grins on their faces.

"That," George said, "the whole staring thing what was that about?"

* * *

"Oh, that was nothing," Mina said, fiddling with her necklace.

Anne shot her a playful look before opening her mouth.

* * *

"It sure didn't seem like nothing to me," Lee pointed out.

George nodded his head emphatically.

* * *

"Well, it was nothing," Mina said walking towards the hospital wing.

"I literally ran into him and he asked me if I was alright," she continued.

"Okay, but I'm talking about after that when you two were five inches apart and looked like you were about to kiss in front of the whole school," Anne asked cheekily.

Mina stopped walking and scoffed.

"We were not going to kiss," she started walking again.

"And why not," Anne asked accusatorially.

"Because we were just joking around. He forgot I helped Madam Pomfrey and then remembered I was in there one time when he was. Just wanted me to know it wasn't his fault he was in there."

Anne squealed, and Mina looked at her confused.

"Don't you see he was flirting with you! Oh this is exciting progress," Anne looped her arm with Mina's.

"No he wasn't? We were just talking," Mina said, although allowing herself to get dragged to a bench.

"Which of us is the relationship guru here," Anne asked seriously as they sat.

Mina looked at her, but when she saw her friend actually wanted an answer she begrudgingly replied.

"You are."

"Exactly, now tell me everything you guys said. Don't leave anything out."

* * *

"Well it was nothing, now sod off," Fred said before turning to another conversation at the table.

George and Lee grinned at each other.

"Ah," George said.

"Ah," Lee repeated.

"Ah? Ah, what?" Fred turned back to them, trying gauge how much they knew.

"Oh, nothing really," Lee said, looking at George before they seemed to reach a silent agreement.

"Other than the fact that you massively fancy -" Fred covered his mouth before he could continue to speak.

"Keep your voice down will you," he whispered to them.

"So it's true then? We were right?"

Fred stared at them for a moment, he looked around them to see that no one was near enough to eavesdrop. He took a big breath, and then let it out before answering.

"Yeah, it's true."

This earned some soft whoops from both Lee and George.

"Alright now, spill. How long have you had a thing for her?" George asked, "Please tell me her kicking you're arse is what did it. What a story that would make." He finished his sentence, grinning.

Fred ran a hand through his hair for a moment.

"Well, I've always had a small thing for her. But probably around when we both joined quidditch," he took another nervous breath, slightly uncomfortable with the notion of pouring his heart out, especially in the dining room as people were starting to show up for lunch.

"George, we thought it was when she kicked his arse at a duel. But instead it was when she kicked his arse at quidditch," Lee joked, and Fred groaned and put his head in his hands, already not wanting the teasing to pick up.

Someone nudged him and he looked up.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? We could've gotten McGonnagall to switch our seats years ago," George said cheekily.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you," Fred said, gesturing with his hand.

"If you knew that I," Fred looked around before quietly whispering,"fancied her, you'd both make a big deal about it."

"Well it is a pretty big deal," Lee said.

"Yeah, we've got a lot of planning to do now," George poked Lee, silently conniving with one another.

"No you don't," Fred said, slouching against the table.

"And why's that?" George asked.

"Didn't you just see her and Wood? There were clearly flirting and making clandestine plans," he said bitterly.

"Nonsense. Look, let's just ask Wood, and even if that's the case we can figure something out," Lee answered back.

Before Fred could say anything, Oliver Wood was being called over to where they were sitting.

"What were you and Mina Donnelly just talking about?" George asked.

"Nothing really. Why?"

* * *

Anne squealed again, drawing another wince from Mina.

"That is totally something. He was definitely flirting with you!" Anne gushed.

"You really think so?" Mina asked quietly.

"I know so," Anne said confidently.

* * *

"Just making sure you weren't giving away our quidditch secrets to a pretty face," George cooly replied, glancing at his brother at the last part.

"Of course I wouldn't do that. I was just making sure she was okay when I ran into her," Oliver answered, "she's not really my type, anyways."

""Alright, just checking that the Gryffindor secrets are safe with you. Okay now, goodbye Oliver, thanks for the chat," Lee said quickly, trying to get him out of there in on piece before Fred tore him to pieces.

Oliver gave Lee a confused look, before walking back over to his group of friends.

" _She's not really my type anyways_ ," Fred mimicked.

"Lee would you look at that, our boys jealous," George said pretending to tear up.

"Oh sod off," he said starting to get up off the bench.

George and Lee caught up to him quickly.

"We can make a plan, Fred."

"Yeah, a foolproof one."

"Don't you worry about a thing."

* * *

"Well, I'm already working on a plan," Anne said confidently, standing up off the bench.

Mina followed suit, a confused look on her face.

"Do I get to know this plan," she asked.

Anne looked at her and 'tutted'. She placed a hand on either side of Mina's face.

"You my dear, have very little finesse," Anne whispered quietly, shaking her hands and Mina's head slightly, "and you might ruin it if you were to know. Don't worry, you're in my capable hands."

"That's what I'm worried about," Mina said dryly, waiting just outside the hospital wing while they finished up their conversation.

"I'm going to ignore that. Anyways, I'll be like your little love fairy. Include me in the story when you tell your kids how you met."

"Please never say the words love fairy ever again."

Brushing off Mina's remarks had become a skill Anne had throughly developed.

"Anyways, your little love fairy is off. She has lots of planning to do, very exciting things. Have fun counting medicine in there, or whatever it is you do when no one's in there."

"Goodbye to you too, I guess."

Mina was throughly perplexed by the whole ordeal, and frankly she had a headache coming on because of it all. Maybe she'd ask Madam Pomfrey for a quick potion.

* * *

 **Okay I've got a final today, and I feel like I'm gonna bomb it, but I have my fingers crossed that the script I wrote for the class is enough to get me a good grade.**

 **Anyways, this chapters kinda short but I solemnly swear that the chapters do start to get longer. (I'm trying to write ahead of my camping trip, so that puts us at like chapter 8, I think? Assuming I upload weekly anyways)**

 **Let me know what you think of the story so far, what you like, what you don't like etc**


	5. Chapter 5

"Merlin's beard, you can't be serious," Mina exclaimed.

Anne looked at her seriously, unamusedly sitting on her bed, waiting for Mina to listen to her advice.

"You want a guy, you gotta do it. It's what all the girls here do, I've been doing it since second year anyways."

Mina looked in the mirror. Anne had rolled her skirt up a little higher and told her to put some thigh high socks on instead of tights. The result was a little cheeky, because as she walked the briefest flash of skin occurred. Her hair had been put into two braids, and she had more makeup on than she normally wore, though by threat it was still moderate.

Mina sighed and turned to Anne. "I know that, I'm not stupid it's just... I don't like the idea of transforming myself to get the guy I like. Shouldn't I be winning Oliver over with my wit and charming smile?"

Anne looked at her deadpanned.

"Don't be daft, men are dumb. You gotta show them what they're missing first, and then there's room for charm and what not."

"But it's so much work," Mina whined. "Why can't they just put in more effort instead."

"I just said men are dumb. Anyways you look cute, if you don't like it you can undo it. And if you do, you can keep to it and claim you're doing it for yourself," Anne said, casually leaning against her bed.

Mina played with her blonde hair, which was playing nice for once in her braids.

"Well," she started, "I do look cute."

She smiled at Anne, and turned looking at herself in the mirror.

"But what about your _master plan_?" Mina asked, suspicious about what her friend had in store for her.

"This is apart of it."

"You just told me how to dress? I thought you had an actual plan," Mina exclaimed, as she started nervously pacing. She should've know it wouldn't have been very thought out. She should've just done this on her own, how she normally dressed. Although, she caught her reflection in the mirror, she did like the effect her outfit had.

Anne leaned back on her bed, and held her hands up in an exaggerated motion. "This, my dear girl, is just a stepping stone in it."

Mina looked at her not amused.

"And what are you gonna do next, tell me how to walk and talk? At what point do I walk around the room with books on my head?"

"Well actually," Anne rolled onto her side, eyeing Mina up, clearly taking the joke seriously.

"I was kidding," Mina sat on her bed, and crossed her legs, "we're not doing those."

Anne crossed her arms, ending up laying on her back again.

"You're no fun."

"You're lucky I'm listening at all. C'mon now, what's the next step of you're master plan before I back out."

" So, after Defense Against the Dark Arts, Oliver gets out of his class. He's normally climbing up the stair case at the end of the hallway a floor up. Can you manage that?"

"Oliver, staircase, floor up. Got it. Then what do I do," Mina leaned against the wall, twiddling with her necklace, in a slight panic because how could she forget she would have to talk to him.

Anne rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're so lucky I'm helping you out. Just talk about quidditch, it's like the only thing he talks about."

"Right. Quidditch. I know quidditch," Mina said nervously, still fiddling with her necklace.

"Alright no backing out, C'mon. We've gotta go now or we'll be late to class."

Mina took a deep breath. She could handle it.

* * *

Fred was going to lose his mind.

The plan was for him to talk to Mina and strike up a friendly conversation after class, but then she walked in. And his brain. Just. Stopped. Working.

She had done something different to her face, her eyelashes were a little darker than normal and her hair, normally an adorable wild curly mess, had been tamed into two braids.

George snapped in front of his face, "Oi, quite drooling or the plans out the window."

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve discreetly.

"I was not drooling."

Whatever George was going to say had been cut off as Professor Lupin went to the front of the class, and began talking about bogarts. And just like that they were being shoved into a line. They pushed themselves somewhere to the middle, and when he peered around to see who ended up in front, he ended up sneered.

It was that absolute git of a Slytherin, Jae Fellows.

She walked up to the closet, laughing with a house mate over how dumb it was. She ran a quick hand through her short, dark hair, before readying herself.

And then a man walked out of the closet.

She must've known who it was, because she clearly tensed up and froze. Just as Fred was realizing he kind of looked like her, he ended up in a dress and high heels, and then they were on to the next students. As quickly as the Bogart had show up, it had left the minds of all of the students in the room, everyone losing interest as the next kid stepped up, including Fred.

Fred zoned out, now bored choosing instead to watch Mina, until his buddy Aiden stepped up.

He looked nervous, quickly wiped his hands on his pants, before nodding his head. Fred was curious to see what his greatest fear was, but was a little confused to see a shark. Really mate? They're mostly harmless, although Fred guessed he couldn't really judge him on greatest fears. You couldn't control what they were anyways. It was reddikulus'd away quickly, and his friends let out a cheer.

Mina stepped up, wand in hand, and a glint in her eye that was fierce. But then the Bogart became a rat, and a sizable portion of the girls in the room shrieked. She cast it away, and tried hiding the fact that she had been one of the girls mentioned, but Fred smiled knowing that she had such a small fear. Literally.

Her friend, Anne, went up and hers ended up being a broomstick, which was baffling. Although, Fred assumed it was heights, or something like that, but he didn't know her well enough to get know for sure.

He zoned out until it was his turn to go, and then he readied himself.

* * *

For Mina, the rest of class flew by, as she didn't really know most of the kids in there well enough to care about their bogarts.

Professor Lupin had just dismissed class, and Mina knew she had to work quickly, but it would kill her if she didn't ask.

"Professor Lupin?"

"Yes?" he turned to look at her.

Mina chewed on her lip, looking at the record player.

"Can you show me what charm you used to be able to get that to work here?" She nodded her head at the record player,"It's just, I haven't seen one work the entire time I've been here, and it would be rather nice to be able to listen to muggle music when I get homesick."

He smiled at her, writing the charm on paper before showing her.

Mina beamed.

"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me."

He waved her off.

"Don't thank me. If anyone asks though, you didn't learn that from me."

She nodded before running off quickly, hoping she hadn't just screwed up her clandestine meeting.

* * *

Fred paced. He was trying to maintain a casual, 'oh fancy meeting you outside of the class we just had' facade. But of course that was hard when the girl you were trying to run into had stayed behind in class.

"Hey Fred," he looked up to see Angelina standing by the classroom doors.

"Hey," he said back, his attention preoccupied.

"That was a crazy class, wasn't it?" She continued, standing near him, leaning into his space the smallest.

"Mhm," he mumbled, staring at the wall next to the classroom.

"I sure didn't expect so many of our classmates to be scared of so many dumb things though. Sharks?" she prodded, trying to get him to crack a joke about Aiden's bogart.

Mina walked through the door of the class with a purpose, aiming for the staircase upstairs. She had to get up there, and then catch up to Oliver on the other staircase. And then Quidditch. She nodded to herself, making sure her checklist was in order.

"Uh huh, hey Angie, I've got somewhere to be. Can we pick up this conversation another time?" Fred was already turning away, but was walking backwards waiting for her answer.

"Sure. Of course, don't sweat it. I'll catch you at dinner," Angelina waved off, ignoring how she felt a little rejected.

"Thanks! You're the best," He shouted, now turned around running, hoping he hadn't missed her. But then he turned the staircase and she was there, slowly making her way up the stair case. He climbed the steps two at a time until he reached her. He begged his breathing not to show how out of breath he was.

"Hey, Mina," he said.

She looked up, a small look of shock on her face, before she shifted her attention back to not falling down the stairs. "Hey."

"That sure was a crazy class, right?" He tried feebly, hoping it would prove some type of response. Why hadn't he thought of anything to say beforehand? That would've made this so much easier.

"Mhm," she said.

He scrunched his eyebrows together. He'd have to try harder.

"Sharks, huh?" He could've hit himself. Sharks was not a smart thing to say, who would think that would ever work.

Mina looked up the staircase and looked like she saw something. "Hey, Fred I've gotta be somewhere. Can we put this on hold for the time being?" She took a chance on him being the Weasley that she was talking to.

Fred was just about to answer, but braced himself against the staircase as it began to move. Mina looked shocked, and stumbled before grabbing ahold of the railing. It swung until it eventually came to a hault.

Looking around, he saw that they would be stuck there until the staircase moved again, as they were currently facing two dead ends. Unless the portraits here were secret passages, but he doubted they'd be ones he didn't know about.

Mina seemed to come to the realization that they were stuck right after he did, because she huffed and then sat down on the stairs. She knew she was pushing it by not going right after class, and now she was stuck here, not talking to Oliver. That plan went down the toilet.

"So, where'd you have to be?" Fred asked, sitting down on the stairs, letting there be a comfortable amount of space between them.

She sighed. "It's not important anymore. How long do you think it'll take before the stairs move back?"

"Beats me."

They sat in silence for a moment, and both of them seemed to realize it was awkward.

"So," Mina drawled out, "Quidditch."

Fred looked at her. "What about quidditch?"

"I dunno. We both play it. I was kind of hoping you'd throw me a bone and just role with it," She sighed, messing with her necklace anxiously again. She knew that conversation wouldn't have worked on Oliver. She was almost glad the stairs had moved, just so she wouldn't have had embarrassed herself talking to Oliver. But then again, at least then she'd be on a different set of stairs at least talking to him, which would've been an improvement from her current situation.

"Oh," Fred said dumbly. He was bad at this, so very bad at this. He was stuck on these steps with his crush for an indeffinant amount of time, and he shot down her topic. "That we do."

"How have your guy's practices been going," she powered on, "ours have been absolutely killer so far, and we've only had two."

Fred let out a breath, leaning back against the stairs.

"Oliver's been working us to the bone, especially with our game being the first one of the season. Sometimes, I think quidditch is all he cares about," he let out a chuckle.

Mina nodded thoughtfully, hoping that wasn't true. That he cared about more than quidditch. Like a certain Ravenclaw girl.

She absentmindedly messed with her necklace, and Fred caught the movement. His interest was peaked, as he hadn't seen her wear it before this year. Although, he wasn't certain if they were close enough for him to ask. Probably not. But, they did have nothing to talk about, and there was only so much silence a person could take.

"Anything special about that," Fred jerked his head towards it, "or is that just a nervous habit of yours, or something."

She looked down, realizing she had been playing with it, before letting go of it.

"Bit of both actually."

She seemed to think for a moment, before lifting it over her head to show it to him.

"My uncle gave it to me over the summer. Said it was a good luck charm, and that it got him through his time at Hogwarts. He didn't exactly expand on that though. Apparently, it was buried in an old school chest he had, and found it when he was cleaning out his attic. I'm not so sure about it being good luck, I think its just some trinket he picked up at a shop on holiday. If it's magical, then it certainly hasn't done anything yet." Fred looked at the dainty silver chain it was on, with a small pendant on it that was blue. It didn't look magical to him, but then again, how would he know. But then he scrunched his eyebrows together.

"I thought you were a muggleborn," he said.

"I am. But my aunt married a wizard and none of us knew until I got my Hogwarts letter," she smiled at the memory, twisting the necklace in her hands, "They were over for dinner one night after they got back from their honeymoon; he was up and congratulating me before I even knew what was going on. The cat was out of the bag by then. Bit of a surprise for everyone, though. Although, I'm glad it turned out that way, my parents would just be even more confused about the magic thing if I had to drag them around Diagon Alley every summer for school supplies."

They were silent for a moment before, before she offered it to him to look at.

He took it in his hand, gently looking at the pendant, trying to see it better. And then it changed. One moment, it was silver and blue, and the next second the chain was gold, and the pendant was red. He looked at her in shock, but her face was just as surprised as his.

"Well," she drawled out," I guess that answers the question. Maybe it is magical, but just some sort of novelty gift? To be the colors of whatever house you're in?"

Fred handed it back, and it changed back to silver and blue.

"Maybe, although if he says it's good luck I wouldn't doubt him."

Mina put the necklace back on over her head, and she pulled her hair over it. "I can only hope it is. I'm hoping it gets me through my owls."

Fred groaned. "Don't remind me about that, my mum's been on my back all summer for it."

"So have my parents, and they barely know anything about it."

They were delved back into silence, before Mina remembered something.

"How's your sister doing," she paused trying to remember her name. "Ginny? After what she went through last year?"

"I think she's holding up. It's kind of hard to know when she's got her own circle here," Fred said, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, if she ever needs a sleeping draught, let me know and I can get her one. I'd probably have a hard time sleeping if I went through what she did. Even if she needs something else, like someone to talk to, I'm open. I've only spoken to her in passing before, but it's not good to bundle that stuff up and keep it all inside." She seemed to think before a moment before continuing. "Plus, it's probably better to talk to a stranger about whatever pressing stuff, especially when the alternative is one of her older brothers." She playfully nudged him, before wondering if she overstepped her boundaries by joking with him. They barely talked, Mina was trying to be civil after all she had promised Aiden, let alone close enough to pass jokes back and forth. Although, if she was going to make an effort, this was probably the best way to go about it.

Fred laughed, but was losing it in his head. She was joking with him, and touching him. Just in general being playful, maybe he did stand a chance. Plus, her asking about Ginny had definitely earned her some points.

"I'll be sure to pass that along to her. Although, it's beyond me why she wouldn't want to talk to one of us," he said, a hint of humor in his voice, letting her know he knew very well why she wouldn't want to.

Mina smiled at him, looking at him for a moment. And then she realized something. He had the smallest scar on the edge of his chin. She wasn't sure if George also had that, but if not then she had just been blessed with the answer to one of Hogwarts biggest questions: Which Weasley was which? Maybe her necklace was good luck after all. Or maybe, she was unobservant in general, and had finally taken a moment to look.

"Beats me."

They were quiet for a second, before Mina realized she could use this situation to her advantage.

"Fred," she started out, not sure if he'd even know what she was talking about, or would tell her if she asked. "Do you know who Alicia likes? I know someone who's got a crush on her, and I'm trying to set them up at the moment."

Fred looked at her, hoping that the friend she was talking about wasn't herself, but took a chance because he knew someone for sure had a crush on her.

"Oh, you mean Aiden."

She nodded, and Fred let out a silent breath of relief.

"Yeah, they've been exchanging googley eyes with one another since the train ride here at the start of term. I don't think they'll realize it though unless one of them accidentally confesses or something. They're both kind of blind on that page."

Mina nodded her head agreeing with him.

"I've got a plan in the works, that will hopefully end with them going to hogshead together. We'll just have to wait and see though."

"Do I get to know this plan," Fred nudged her back, hoping it was the last move.

"Absolutely not, it is a secret plan. The only people who know it is me, myself, and I," she gave him a serious look.

"Hrm," he started, faking being in deep thought, "I've heard those people aren't very reliable with keeping plans to theirselves."

Mina let out a snort, a very cute snort, and elbowed him. "Sod off."

"If you need help though, I'm around for conniving plans. Some would say I'm known for it," Fred sat up straight.

Mina raised an eyebrow at him. "So I've heard."

Fred was just about to say something else, when the stairs began to move again. They moved back to where they were an hour before, and then he reluctantly stood up. He extended a hand to her, and after a moment she took it and allowed him to help her stand up.

"So, you've got somewhere to be, right?"

Mina looked up the stairs for a moment, before looking back at him. "I did, but to be honest, I think it's too late for that. I'm probably needed in the great hall to help Anne with homework though." Or be yelled at for completely screwing up the plan.

He nodded.

"Yeah, I was going to head there too. I'll walk with you."

They walked and politely talked about quidditch and transfiguration the way there.

When they walked in Fred was given thumbs up from George and Lee, and Mina was shot a questioning look from Anne. She sighed before turning to Fred.

"I'll catch you later," she said, not meaning much other than goodbye.

Fred was absolutely glowing on the inside by this. "Yeah, catch you later."

Both of them missed the glare that Angelina was sending towards Mina, and the complete lack of looks that Oliver had given them.

Fred climbed onto the bench, and was being patted on the back.

"Well done. You two were gone for an hour, this just fast forwarded the plan. How'd you do it?" Lee asked.

"We got stuck on a staircase after it moved," Fred said matter of factly.

George shared a look with Lee. "That was all it took? Really? Why hadn't I thought of that?"

"It's not like I planned that, it just moved and we were stuck."

"This is exciting," George said emphatically, "this is good." George and Lee continued to prod Fred on what happened, while taking mental notes on it as they were slowly shifting their plan.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Mina was getting chewed out.

"What do you mean you got stuck on the stairs with Fred Weasley? The plan was to go talk to Oliver. That is the opposite of the plan," Anne said, trying to keep her voice down, but visibly upset. Or as upset as she could get when her plan didn't work.

"I know what the plan was. I got out of class a little late, and when I tried to catch up to Oliver the staircase shifted. Fred just happened to be on it with me."

Anne looked at her for a second.

"Why were you late getting out of class? We're in the same class, we got out at the normal time?"

Mina took a moment to brace herself, knowing Anne would show a little bit of excitement at what she learning having been a muggleborn as well.

"Okay, keep your voice down on this. But," Mina looked around, before looking back, "you know how Lupin was playing a record player during class? You ever stop to think how he managed to get it to work?"

Mina watched the realization dawn on Anne.

"You did not," Anne asked in disbelief, obviously excited.

"I did," Mina smiled. "Write home and have them send some of your records."

Anne shrieked excitedly, gathering some questioning looks by their nearby Ravenclaws.

"This is so worth having a minor set back in the plan, I could kiss you," Mina sent her a disgusted look, so Anne added. "But I won't. I know you're meant for another." Anne finished solemnly, although her voice was laced with humor.

"What are we talking about?" Aiden said climbing into the seat next to Mina.

She looked at him for a moment. "Why does it feel like you're always showing up late."

"Probably because he is," Anne said.

Mina nodded her head. "Yeah that's it. So where have you been?"

"The library trying to figure out what on earth Snape was talking about in potions today. I'm lost," he let out a breath, clearly a little overwhelmed.

"Well we can study in the common room later, don't worry," Mina placed a hand on his shoulder.

Just then a face appeared between Mina and Aiden.

"Don't forget we have practice on Wednesday," Damien Woodly said, stealing an apple from the table. "Davies will have our hides if we don't show up early."

Anne batted her eyelashes, and Mina rolled her eyes. Damien was a chaser with her on the Ravenclaw quidditch team. The two of them were extremely competitive and she honestly couldn't see the hype about him. He was tall sure, and he was kinda broad. Maybe it was the blond hair and green eyes? Who knew. Although, if the other girls showed up to all of the practices from their first year they might feel the same way as her. Members of his fan club had started showing up to their practices this year, and she was over the whole ordeal the first time it happened. Even Anne had hopped onto the hype train, and no amount of 'I'm supporting you, Mina' would make her truly believe she wasn't just there to make eyes at Damien.

"Yeah, I got it. Thanks," she sent him a quick smile, before he went back over to his friends.

Anne looked at her.

"You know I'm glad you don't like him, otherwise it'd be a little awkward when we get married," Anne sighed.

Aiden looked at Mina. "Wait she knows who you like? Why don't I know?"

Mina preoccupied herself with a mouthful of food.

"Oh, c'mon that's not fair. Anne gets to know and I don't."

"That's because she knows who I like, it's girl code," she said, staring at him in a way that said he wouldn't get it.

"Anne, I know who you like. Literally every semi attractive person you lay eyes on," Anne pointed at him and tilted her head, telling him he wasn't wrong.

He turned back to Mina.

"C'mon, you know who I like. Evens even," his eyes begged him to tell her.

She swallowed her lump of food, before whispering. "Alright, but you're sworn to secrecy. No meddling or anything." She held up her pinky, and Aiden took it, their form of making promises since their first year.

Anne looked between them for a second before blurting out, "Oliver Wood! It's Oliver Wood!" excitedly.

Mina looked at her lamely.

"Sorry I got excited, I couldn't hold it in. Now we're all in on the secret."

Aiden looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"I don't think it's possible for him to like anyone as much as he likes quidditch."

"Why does everyone keep saying that," Mina exclaimed.

Aiden tilted his head, piling stuff on his plate. "Because it's true. Who else told you that?"

"Fred Weasley."

He looked back shocked.

"Now that's much bigger news than your crush. When were you talking to Fred?"

Anne pressed herself against the table, almost getting her hair in her food. "She got stuck on a staircase talking to him after Defense Against the Dark Arts, instead of talking to Oliver Wood."

"We've been over this, it was for a good reason. Me getting stuck on the stairs with Fred was merely a coincidence," Mina shot her a look.

"It's a set back in the plan is what it is," Anne sat pressing some fingers to the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.

Aiden looked back and forth between the two girls before landing back on Mina.

"Wait, so she's allowed to plan around your crush, but I'm not?"

"Ah, you pinky promised. No take backs," Mina pointed out.

"No take backs," Aiden repeated begrudgingly.

"Anyways, I didn't ask her to, she just kind of did it anyways. I have no control over her actions."

"None whatsoever," Anne cheerfully piped back.

* * *

 **Hope your summer breaks are going good, I plan on trying to write this story ahead a bit more so that way I've got a backlog of chapters. Don't forget to put sunscreen on if you're outside, and pet a dog or something if you have no plans. Because, honestly, petting a dog is the best summer plans. (Cats are good if you have access to cats as well)**


	6. Chapter 6

Mina was a little desperate as she fast walked into the library, scanning for Hermione's bushy hair. Okay, maybe a _little_ more than desperate. The two girls had a test in arithmancy tomorrow, and Mina was completely unprepared. She was freaking out. She didn't see her, but she did see Ginny Weasley. Maybe she knew were Hermione was? It was a shot in the dark, but it was all she had.

Mina walked up to Ginny's table, where she was sitting alone working on homework. Or at least it looked like it, but instead she appeared to be doodling in her notebook instead.

"Hey Ginny," Mina said, slightly winded.

Ginny looked up surprised. "Hey, Mina. What's up?"

She was about to just outright ask her, but then she thought back to the previous year. She ended up in the hospital wing too, and by the time Mina came to, she appeared to be worse for wear.

"How are you doing," she said, looking at Madam Pince quickly, before sitting on the table. "You know, after last year and all?"

Madam Pince turned around and Mina quickly jumped into a chair.

Ginny reddened a little bit, covering her notebook with her hand. "I'm alright. It's just a little embarrassing because that's how everyone knows me."

Mina scolded herself, she probably hadn't helped that by coming up to her and asking her about it. She probably wouldn't want to talk to a complete stranger about it either.

"I should be asking you anyway. Being petrified has to be terrifying," Ginny's eyes bore into hers, and for a second the cold fear she had felt right before she was petrified started to seep into her at the mention of it, before she pushed the feeling away.

She waved a hand, "nah, you barely even realize what happened. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital wing and you were being placed in a bed across from me."

"Oh."

The two sat in silence for a moment, before Mina tried again.

"Look," she started. "I know we don't really know each other, but if you ever need someone to talk to about things, I'm always around. Even if it's about nothing."

Ginny moved her hand slightly, and Mina could just barely make out what see was doodling.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

Mina stood up, ready to leave, having temporarily forgotten why she had come into the library. Her eyes flitted across Ginny's paper and she smiled.

"So, Roger Davies, huh?"

Ginny looked confused, before looking down at her uncovered notebook. She closed it, and blushed a deep red.

"Don't be embarrassed, it's safe with me. I could kinda see the interest, although when he's bossing you around on the field that disappears pretty quickly," Mina studied Ginny's face before coming up with something. "If it helps, Damien's got a fan club who shows up to every one of our practices. If someone wanted to show up to a practice, they'd just assume that person was there for him."

Ginny seemed to realize what she was getting at.

"And if that person were to show up," Mina continued," they'd want to show up Wednesday morning at the quidditch pitch. Oh, and probably sit next to Anne. Uh, a loud Ravenclaw. She also has red hair, if that helps. She normally pushes herself to the front to get a good view."

Ginny smiled at Mina. "Thanks Mina, that helps a lot."

Mina nodded her head, and started to walk away before she remembered. She walked back over to the table quickly, and Ginny looked back up.

"Have you seen Hermione by chance?"

"Yeah, she said she'd be in the great hall. At least, she said she'd be there like half an hour ago. I'd check there."

Mina said a quick thanks and goodbye before quickly walking off. She needed to study quickly, she could feel her grade dropping as the minutes past by.

* * *

Aiden yelped as he was pulled behind around the corner.

Seeing who it was he didn't question what was happening, and just allowed himself to be dragged outside. They ended up in a shady portion of the lawn, far away from anyone else. As soon as they stopped he opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but was cut off.

"Okay, so we're trusting you with what we're about to tell you. You have to swear to secrecy you won't tell anyone anything," Lee said.

He glanced back and forth between all of them, trying to figure out if they were scheming for a prank or not.

"Yeah, sure, okay, secrecy. What's going on?" he asked.

Fred, George, and Lee all gave each other a look.

"I'd rather you not be involved," Fred said, looking exasperated," but apparently I don't have a decision in the matter."

Aiden raised an eyebrow.

George turned to Aiden, ignoring Fred.

"You have been selected to be apart of a very secret mission. Fred here has a crush, and we could do with another head to help plan things out."

This caught Aiden's attention. Fred having a crush? Who could the poor soul be? Who had possibly captured his attention long enough to make this be a thing they were actually causing a fuss over?

"Oh man, really? Who is she? Anyone I know?" He looked at Fred curiously, but looked to the others for the answers knowing they were most likely going to be the ones answering for him.

Lee answered. "Yeah, part of the reason why you've been chosen. You are kinda close to her. Some might say best friends."

Aiden nodded his head for a moment. He knew instantly who they were talking about, he could see the two of them being a cute couple. "I already know who you're talking about, and man, I'm more than willing to help out."

Fred's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course. What can I do to help?" He looked between the group, eager to help. They all looked between each other, before George decided to take point.

"Well, eventually some planning, but for right now some questions we have could be answered." Aiden nodded again, before gesturing for him to continue. "Do you know if she's seeing anyone right now? If she's got any crushes?"

Aiden thought carefully. Well, he knew Anne wasn't seeing anyone, but as for having a crush? He'd have to go for a broader no, he hadn't heard her make a fuss over anyone seriously for more than five minutes. Maybe Damien, but that was superfluous.

"Not as far as I know," he said, shaking his head.

"What about Hogsmeade plans? Does she have any?" George asked on.

"Well," he said, "we all normally hang out for Hogsmeade. We get sweets, and bounce around between places. We normally all end up in The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer."

Fred nodded to himself, mentally trying to remember everything.

"What type of sweets does she like?" Fred asked, thinking about maybe buying her some.

Aiden looked at him seriously.

"She's not a big fan of sweets."

"Really?" Fred said, shock on his face.

Aiden nodded solemnly. "Really."

He remembered their first Hogsmeade when Anne had bought a ton of sweets and had eaten them all the same day. She was so sick after that, that to this day she avoided them if she could. Mina always had fun teasing her when she had chocolate, which normally ended with Anne telling her to sod off.

"What about grades? Can we get Fred to offer to tutor her or something?" Lee piped in.

Anne's grades weren't the best. But they weren't the worst. It might work.

"You might be able to pull it off, but it'd have to be for transfiguration or something else. That's gotta be her worst class," Aiden thought bak to Anne's whining on the train, talking about how after this year she'd drop the class.

They all nodded for a moment before, coming to the silent decision that it was time to leave.

"Thanks a lot man, this really means a lot to me," Fred said. Aiden smiled back at him. Anne and him would make such a cute couple.

"No problem."

"We'll come find you if we some more information on Mina," George said, and Aiden nodded to himself for a moment.

Wait.

Did he say Mina?

"You really saved me, I was really thinking about buying Mina some chocolate or something at Hogsmeade. Crisis averted," Fred joked, and Aiden blankly nodded along still trying to do the mental gymnastics he was going through, now working himself into a panicked state.

"Well, we're off. We'll catch you some other time," Lee said and they all waved him off.

Oh no, Aiden thought to himself. He did something very bad. Very, very bad.

He screwed this situation up so badly. Why didn't they say who he had a crush on? He very clearly had two girl best friends, why would they say that and then not clarify. Aiden tried to calm his breathing. So, what were the facts he knew? Mina, one of his very best friends, had confided in him about her crush on Oliver Wood. Had sworn himself to secrecy over it. What else? Fred, one of his very good friends, had confided in him about his crush on Mina. Had sworn himself to secrecy over it. Aiden undid his tie, and rubbed at his forehead feeling a headache coming on. What could he possibly do? He couldn't tell anyone. He was supposed to be helping out too, in Fred's case. How could he do that in good conscious knowing that Mina like someone else.

He was utterly and completely fucked.

* * *

Mina caught Hermione right as she was leaving the Great Hall.

"Hey."

Hermione turned to her.

"What's up?" she said, stopping at the door to talk to Mina.

"Do you mind studying with me for the test tomorrow? I feel completely unprepared," Mina said desperately.

Hermione nodded her head. "Of course, I can meet you in the library after lunch. I need a little break for now, I've just been studying for divination."

Mina looked at her strange.

"I didn't know you _could_ study for that class."

"You'd be surprised. It's all a bunch of nonsense if you ask me," Hermione said matter of factly, hugging a huge book to her chest.

Mina laughed. "That's exactly why I dropped it." She looked at Hermione, before noticing how tired the other girl looked. "I'm gonna be a while at lunch, try to catch a quick nap if you can. If we need to cancel studying, let me know and I can cram on my own." She fixed her back on her shoulder.

"I guess I look exhausted, don't I?" Hermione asked. "I'll be fine, I've just got a massive weight load right now. It's kind of hard to juggle it all."

"I felt that exact way third year. You'll figure out how to juggle it all though, it just takes a really, really organized schedule. I nearly forgot about potions essays so many times."

Hermione smiled to herself, like she was in on a joke that Mina wasn't.

"I'm working on that organized schedule right now. Anyways, maybe I will go take a quick nap, but I'll be in the library to study in a little bit."

They waved goodbye and Mina climbed onto the bench.

"I didn't know you knew Hermione," Anne greeted Mina.

"Hello to you too," Mina greeted her back cheekily, gathering food onto her plate.

"How do you two know each other?" Anne continued, the whole not knowing thing was eating her up.

Mina let her arithmancy notes hit the table. "We have a test tomorrow and Hermione's in my class. But, you also spend a year on a bed next to each other, it kind of bonds you. We woke up last year and started talking. We're not super close," she tilted her head, before tapping her notes with a small smile," but I am close enough to bug her to study with me without feeling like a complete nuisance."

Then Aiden plopped onto the bench right beside Anne. The two girls took in his disheveled state, tie undone and what on earth happened to his hair?, before sharing a small smile.

Mina looked at Anne, humor in her eyes. "Look who showed up late again."

Aiden nodded stuffing a roll into his mouth. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. He couldn't do this. He was shaking his leg like crazy. He couldn't look Mina in the eyes knowing what he knew. He grabbed another roll and began stuffing that one into his mouth as well.

Anne shared a concerned look with Mina.

"Hey, slow down or you're going to choke."

Aiden looked up for a second, before taking the time to swallow his food. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was just playing some football with some guys, and I didn't realize how much of an appetite I'd worked up." Now he was a liar. He lied through his teeth to his two best friends. He was the worst. Just the absolute worst. He stuffed the rest of the roll in his mouth.

"Okay then, sport, but choking on food won't help you," Anne said, her eyebrow quirked.

Mina looked at the both of them, a small smile on her face.

"I know what's going on."

Aiden looked up, pure terror in his eyes. Oh no, she knew, _and_ she was going to kick his arse. He was going to end up in the hospital wing, and then she'd kick his arse again when Madam Pomfrey wasn't looking. He took in her smile, and he gulped nervously. She'd have fun doing it too. Aiden had never been more scared in his life.

"You do?"

"Mhm," Mina smiled, eating a little bit of her food. Anne looked back and forth between the two of them. "It's quite obvious really."

"It is?" Aiden asked. He was going to cry, he had decided. Maybe she wouldn't brutally murder him if he was sobbing. He was prepared to grovel through the snot if he had to, though. Mina looked back and forth between the two of them, for a moment.

"You're thinking about asking Alicia out to Hogsmeade aren't you?" She leaned on the table, like she had all the cards in front of her.

Oh thank Merlin, Aiden thought. Relief flooded through his body.

"Yep," he laughed nervously. "You got me."

Mina and Anne smiled at each other.

"I'm working on a plan right now for that, but it'll have to wait until after my next quidditch practice. I've got too much going on until then."

Aiden nodded his head completely and utterly relieved before he stopped. Wait... not another plan. He was more than happy to just stare at Alicia, and just thinking about asking her to hogsmeade brought on a completely different wave of anxiety. He was just about to voice this when Mina stood up.

"Well, I'm off. If I don't study for this test I'm going to fail it," she scooped up her notes, and walked out of the room.

Anne talked his ear off about different ways he should ask Alicia and he rubbed his head again. He had the worst headache.

* * *

Mina walked into the library for the second time that day, making her way back to Ginny's table, which this time Hermione was at.

"Hello again," She smiled at Ginny.

"Hi," she sheepishly answered back.

The three of them studied relatively quietly, Hermione and Mina for their test, and Ginny for some other class, only really talking to answering questions.

That is until Oliver Wood walked in.

Mina studied him harder than she was for her test. Oh man, she thought, he looks soooooo good.

He got a book from the library before sitting at a table with some Gryffindors in his year. Mina twirled a little bit of her hair throughly zoned out, not noticing the looks Ginny and Hermione were giving her.

"Mina. Mina," Hermione snapped in front of her face, finally getting her attention. "What'd you get for number five?"

She looked down at her paper, to see she hadn't even started the question. She looked back up at them.

"Uh, sorry I must've zoned out. I've just barely finished number four."

Ginny and Hermione shared a look, although Ginny's had a lot more humor in it. They looked back at her.

"What?" Mina raised an eyebrow.

Ginny smiled even wider, like she knew something. Hermione did her best to hide her smile, but was failing terribly.

"What?" Mina asked again, this time a little louder, but not by much at the threat of being kicked out by Madam Pince.

"Who is it?" Ginny asked.

"Who's what?" Mina asked back, not catching what she meant. Ginny was already turned around in her seat scanning who was in the library.

"Oh, I got it!" She exclaimed a little too loud, as Hermione pulled her back into her seat, and shushed her as Madam Pince glanced in their direction. She continued a little quieter. "It's Oliver Wood!"

Mina stared at them, mouth agape slightly and eyes widened, before trying to play it cool.

"What about him?"

Ginny shared a look with Hermione, who finally had put all the pieces together.

"You like him, even I can see that much," Hermione finally chimed in.

Mina groaned, and buried her head into her arms on the table. She could already feel her ears turning red.

"Was I that obvious?" came her muffled response.

Ginny and Hermione answered at the same time.

"No."

"Yes."

Mina groaned again, burying her face even deeper. She had to be Gryiffidor red right now.

"What Hermione meant," Ginny cleared her throat and had clearly nudged the girl she was talking about," is that it was obvious to us, because you were sitting right in front of us."

Peaking out from her arms a little, Mina responded. "Really?"

"I mean, it was really, really obvious to us because you were sitting in front of us," Hermione started, causing Mina to hide back in her arms," but I'm definitely sure he hasn't noticed. The only thing he cares about enough to look at close enough is quidditch." She finished speaking by patting Mina on the shoulder.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Mina asked, and the two other girls could barely figure out what she was saying.

Ginny shot Hermione a glare, before leaning over the table trying to get Mina to come out.

"Well," Ginny started," Probably because there's some truth to it. I don't know if I've ever seen him in a relationship."

Hermione nodded her head at this.

Mina peaked back out of her arms.

"That doesn't mean he'd never be interested in anyone."

Hermione felt her heart break a little at the lovesick girl in front of her. She was still wondering if she was under a love potion, but she still felt for her. "Of course not."

Both Mina and Ginny laid their heads on their hands, the younger girl copying the older.

"We can try to hep you, if you want. We wouldn't really be much help, but it'd be something," Ginny said, always a believer in a love story. She was a sucker for a good one, and she'd be damned if she wouldn't try her hardest to make this one just that.

"I'm good, I think I'm already getting enough help as it is. Maybe I should just give up on him though if everyone thinks he's a lost cause," Mina smiled sadly.

Hermione was just about to tell her to do that, but Ginny cut her off in her quest for a good love story.

"Of course not. The heart wants what it wants, we've all been there. You can't just stop liking someone as easily as that," Ginny said fiercely.

Mina thought on it for a moment. "You're right, but maybe I should keep my distance then. Just try to let it fade on it's own. If it's a lost cause I really don't want to get hurt."

"Do what you want, but that last one sounds like a good one to me," Hermione piped in, not much for love advice.

That landed her an elbow from Ginny.

"You should do what you want. Follow your heart if that's it," Ginny said looking at Mina, "and don't let people," she glanced at Hermione, "tell you to do otherwise."

Mina nodded her head for a moment before looking back down.

"I really appreciate it, guys I do. But," she grinned at them, although a little forced," if I don't study for this test then I'm a goner."

"Now that's something I can help you with," Hermione smiled brightly.

The three girls smiled at one another, before trying to figure out what on earth the answer to number five could've been.

* * *

Anne did her best to stay out of other people's business. She really did.

Sure she was a little (okay maybe a lot) nosy with her friends business, but that was because she cared. And maybe because she was just a teensy bit curious.

But she rarely meddled with people who weren't her friends.

That's why when she turned down a hallway and saw Jae Fellows, she flipped instantly. She could go to her common room another time, there were other parts of the castle she could go to. See, anywhere near Jae Fellows.

But it was too late, she had already been spotted.

"Well look who it is," Jae started, and Anne rolled her eyes.

She looked up to Jae, honestly not even that much give Anne a pair of heels and she'd be fine, and raised an eyebrow.

"Glad you're able to recognize people, Fellows. Object permanence is a hard thing for babies to do. Congrats."

Jae's eyes burned.

"Why don't you just-"

"Just go to my common room? Believe me, I'm trying, but some gits are standing in my way," Anne said, making an attempt this time to walk by them.

Jae grabbed onto her shoulder stopping her, making her look at her. Anne gazed lazily at her.

"It's a shame you don't play quidditch," She spat. "I'd love to knock you down a peg. I guess your little friend will have to do."

Anne's eyes hardened, at the threat not only to her but also to Mina, before roughly pulling her shoulder out of her grasp.

She turned and walked away, but not before wondering if she had to warn Mina about anything.

* * *

 **I'm leaving to go camping early in the morning tomorrow so you guys get an update a day early. How lucky are you? but I have to drive for like 5 hours which sucks, but I'm bringing a notebook for me to journal story ideas I might have while I'm gone. Update should be good to go on next Monday as usual.**


	7. Chapter 7

Mina didn't quite feel like a person Wednesday morning. She'd rather crawl back into her warm bed than go out onto the cold quidditch pitch, but she knew Davies would have her head if she missed even one practice. She sighed, turned over and threw her blanket over her head as her dorm mates squealed, trying to figure out which eyeshadow to wear in order to impress Damien.

Someone pulled the blanket off of her.

"Nooo," Mina whined, keeping her eyes shut and blindly reaching for the warm blanket.

Here's the thing about her dorm mates. They don't like listening. So, while a normal person might take no for an answer and leave Mina alone, the answer for them was to hit her with a pillow. Mina peeked her eyes open.

"C'mon, get up," Anne said with a small smile on her face as she tossed her pillow onto her bed.

Mina maneuvered her way around the girls running around, there was only four of them how did they manage to occupy so much space, and managed to brush her teeth behind two of them as they applied lipstick. When she was done, she sleepily looked into the mirror, before brushing her hair into a ponytail, not really caring about her curls showing. She poked at the purple bags under her eyes, and sleepily allowed Anne to put some concealer onto them, as she focused on putting her socks and shoes on.

She yawned and sat down onto her chest, waiting for them to be done, in the way they had done for the last several practices. As the time passed by, she eventually stood and made her way down to the common room. The girls were flown into a frenzy as they realized the time, and quickly threw on sweaters and mascara and whatever else they could manage.

Looking around the common room, it was dead silent except for those who had risen early to get some work down, and the few other girls in their year who had decided being up at this unholy hour was worth it for the chance that a boy might just look at them. Mina would'v rolled her eyes, if she hadn't been half asleep.

She was halfway to the quidditch pitch when she started to hear squeals. Someone touched her arm, and she jumped, ready to fight off whoever was about to talk her ear off about how dreamy Damien looked.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate Davies? Why do we have to have a practice so early?" Damien nudged her, bags under his eyes as well.

She nodded her head, slowly waking up more as they edged closer to the pitch.

"Tell me about it," she stifled a yawn. "I hear Hufflepuff practices in the afternoon, how nice does that sound?"

"I'd kill for that right now."

The two walked in silence, the squeals filled up enough of the space around them, as they were finally waking up enough for practice.

She could see the rest of her team, some looking more asleep than she had felt five minute ago, and Roger Davies who looked to be the only person who was wide awake. Damien's fan club sat on a bench on the ground, as they eagerly anticipated the excitement that was them stretching. She saw Ginny from the corner of her eye gingerly sitting next to Anne, who immediately introduced herself to the younger girl.

But then the Gryffindor quidditch team rolled out onto the pitch, and Mina groaned. She may not have wanted to be there ten minutes ago, but now she felt somewhat ready for a practice, and wasn't ready to give up the spot.

"Gryffindor has practice right now, what are you all doing here," Oliver Wood said, and Mina would've druled, would've done something if it hadn't been so early.

"So does Ravenclaw," Davies said, stepping up to Oliver.

Mina's eyes drifted over to Angelina, who was looking at her, and they both sighed and rolled their eyes as Davies and Oliver eyed each other up. Mina was not ready for whatever measuring contest they'd be mentally doing to each other. Maybe that's why she stepped up to both of them. Or maybe it was still so early she could barely think straight. Or maybe she was just stupid.

"Look, it's too early to be doing whatever it is you two are doing right now. Let's just tell each other how many practices we have left?" The two looked at her like she was crazy, but there was a certain early morning glint in her eyes that told them not to fight her on it. They did it, and Gryffindor had one less scheduled than Ravenclaw. Mina sighed and ran a hand over her face, trying desperately to wipe away any traces of sleep.

"Okay, so here's how this is gonna work out. We have two options: One. Gryffindor gives up this practice to Ravenclaw," she was cut off by arguments and complaints from Gryffindor and she sent a steely gaze their way, "or if you guys are worked up for a practice like we are there's a second option. We split this practice, _and_ the next one evenly. The advantage to that one is you can watch how we practice, and we watch how you practice. Take notes on each other and stuff like that." She saw Davies and Oliver eye each other up, and she sighed knowing she'd have to get some good points in with Davies on what she said next for him to actually think before he spoke. "But I'm not in charge, so Davies whatever you two choose, just let us know."

She walked back over to her team, and started stretching knowing that they'd have to practice either way. Damien caught her doing this and followed suit, causing everyone else to join in. Davies and Oliver talked heatedly for a moment before Davies ran back over to them.

"Okay, so we've decided to go half and half on this practice and the next one," Mina saw the Gryffindor sitting on the ground next to Damien's groupies, which was an odd sight to see. "So, we've got a shorter practice that means quick stretch, quick warm up, and then we're in the air."

Mina nodded to herself at what he said. When Davies turned around, Damien hip checked her.

"You heard what he said, quick practice. Don't be upset if I do so much better today than you do."

Mina raised an eyebrow, a small teasing smile playing on her lips.

"Sure you will. And I'm sure Snape's on his way to give Gryffindor a thousand points as we speak," she replied cheekily, already feeling a surge of adrenaline.

They all stretched and then Damien and her looked to Davies expectedly.

He eyed them for a moment, before sighing, although he knew from the start that he was going to go through with it. This was one of the best parts of practice.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he mockingly started, and the girls squealed knowing where this was headed.

"What's going on," Fred said, leaning towards Anne and Ginny.

"Give it a second and I'll explain," Anne hurriedly said, trying to shush him.

"You know how this goes. I need you all to line up in a line right here," he pointed with his foot," you know the rules. I want a good and clean race. As always, whoever can beat Damien or Mina can tell me what to do for one whole practice."

Mina was jumping and shaking her hands trying to get her blood flowing, as Damien stretched for the girls watching him.

"A race?" George asked, humor in his voice.

"Yes, they always do it. Every single practice," Anne said hurriedly, eyes glued in front of her.

"Okay, but what do they get if they win?" Fred asked.

"Well," Anne started, "If anyone beats Mina or Damien, then they can tell Roger what to do for an entire practice."

George snorted. "Yeah, we got that part. What about Mina or Damien?"

Anne looked at him quickly, a small smile on her face. "Well, the two of them are pretty competitive. So, the person who wins gets the satisfaction of knowing they've won over the other. They've got an ongoing tally."

Fred smiled, and looked out onto the field as Mina was stretching her leg behind her.

Roger turned theatrically to his audience. "Who, as of this moment, is currently winning the tally?"

The girls were less than enthusiastic as they said Mina's name, all except Anne who shouted it excitedly. Mina struck a pose for her. Ginny giggle as Anne whooped for her, and Fred was having a hard time containing his smile at this new side of Mina.

Mina finished stretching, as she stood next to Damien and eyed him cheekily. Both of them had a mischievous light in their eyes at their excitement bubbled. They didn't dare talk to each other until Davies finished speaking, both wanting to feed their energy off of their audience.

"Okay, exchange your bets now," Davies said, and while the Gryffindor team thought this was a joke at first, they quickly saw it wasn't. They heard bets being placed in the forms of homework assignments, butterbeer from next hogsmeade, and especially in sweets.

Anne leaned over to Ginny, Fred, and George quickly. "I'll bet you a chocolate frog that Mina wins. Who'll take me on."

"I dunno," George said. "Walk me through her odds."

"She's currently reigning champion. When she's got a practice this early, she normally flops on these, but since she's got a bigger audience to show of in front of I think her odds are pretty good," she said, thinking about how Mina probably wanted to show off for Oliver Wood.

Ginny sized both of them up. "I'll take that. His legs are longer, plus he's got an actual fan club here for him. That seems way more motivation for him."

They shook on it as Fred leaned over to her.

"Speaking of which, why are you here, apart of said fan club?" Ginny looked up at him doefully, before changing the topic.

"Sh, I think they're about to start," Ginny said, all of a sudden a lot more excited in the race now that some sweets were on the line.

Anne yelled out quickly before anyone could talk. "Mina I've got a chocolate frog on the line for you, you better win it." Which prompted Mina to playfully send blow her a kiss. Anne gasped loudly, before turning to Ginny, a joke on the edge of her tongue. "Did you see that? She's gonna win it for me now."

Fred looked mildly interested in the race, but on the inside he was going absolutely insane at this side of Mina. He'd seen her joke around with Damien before games sure, and she knew she was more than capable of making he friends laugh. But, seeing her playful because she wanted to win a game with almost no consequences for the heck of it? He felt like he was in love.

"Alright then," Davies said, walking in front of his team. "I want three laps of this pitch. You two shake on it, so I know you'll play fair."

They turned to each other and shook the others hand seriously, like this were a life or death matter and not a race to wake them all up for practice.

Damien broke into a smile.

"I hate to make you look bad in front of the entire Gryffindor team, but I'm afraid I have to. I'll sign your shoes after I win, though."

Mina snorted. She was amped up by the crowd of people. Normally it was a crowd of people supporting Damien, and Anne who flipped back and forth between the two depending on the day. But today, she just knew she had to prove herself, there were too many people who would be looking at her and rooting against her. She thought of Ginny, and how she wanted to show off to her young friend. She thought of Anne, and how she flipped between the two on their track record. She even thought of Fred and George Weasley. Whatever dislike they had for her, some part of her wanted to show off to them. Just to be able to say, look at what I can do. She assumed it was the small part of her that had agreed to play nice with them to Aiden. She thought of everyone there in that moment, except Oliver Wood. Someone who would have freaked her out, if she had thought of him, but he had somehow slid right out of her thoughts.

"Hate to make you look bad in front of your fan club. I'd feel bad, except I don't. I'll have fun beating you."

"Oh, will you now?" Damien smiled playfully.

Roger rolled his eyes at them. "Finish shaking hands already, we don't have all day."

They dropped their hands, and looked to Davies expectantly. He walked over to the side, counted them down, and then they were off.

Mina didn't want to over exert herself, so when Damien slowly started passing her on the first lap she let it happen. They were already so far ahead of everyone else, that it wasn't a question of anyone else winning. She just focused on breathing, and maintained a steady pace. She stayed just slightly behind Damien until the third lap. He must've been feeling cocky, because he had started taunting her. That was his mistake. She may have been tired, but she wasn't tired enough to not pass him out of spite. She had lost track of who everyone was cheering for, as she forced her legs to work faster, to push just a little bit faster. She pulled out ahead of him and kept going, knowing that while beating him would be fantastic, beating him by a long shot would taste divine.

She pushed herself as hard as she could, and when Davies put his arm down as she crossed the line, she put her arms in the air. Anne was yelling at her. She assumed it was good, but her heart was beating in her ears, and she had to focus on breathing. She put her hands on her knees. She could vaguely make out Davies telling them to get water.

Mina walked over to Anne, who offered her up a water bottle. She hunched over, ignoring the bottle for a minute.

"Well done, Mina! That chocolate frog is all yours! You know how I get around sweets anyways," Anne said wrinkling her nose slightly.

Ginny looked at Anne, before sheepishly looking back at Mina, who was still breathing heavily. "Sorry I bet against you, I should've known."

"And to think, I won that race for you," Mina said between huffs of breath, but still managing a cheeky smile.

"Well done, that was way more exciting than our practices and you lot aren't even done yet," George said excitedly.

Fred looked at Mina, a twinkle of delight in his eyes. "Yeah, congrats. You beat Damien by a lot."

Mina looked at him still breathing heavily.

"But at what cost," she joked. "I feel like I'm dying." They smiled at each other for a moment.

"Well done Mina," Oliver came over briefly to congratulate her. She straightened up and tried to steady her breathing, although this time for another reason entirely. How could she have forgotten Oliver was there? "That was really impressive."

"Oh that," she started, trying to maintain her cool as Anne and Ginny smiled at her, knowing what was going on. "spsh, that was nothing. I feel fine."

He nodded, before walking over to Davies to talk to him about something quidditch related, no doubt.

Mina almost collapsed, and Fred and Anne reached out to steady her for a moment.

"If I don't recover tell Madam Pomfrey I died doing what I loved," she breathed out. "Making Damien look bad in front of a bunch of girls."

Anne rolled her eyes, as Fred laughed. Mina realized that he was holding her up and she gave him a hesitant smile. Aiden would be happy, knowing that he probably didn't hate her, because otherwise he would've let her fall. That's what people who are on good terms do, right? Catch someone who's that person's friend to make sure she didn't fall?

She stood up on her own, and finally took the water from Anne and drank it quickly, as Davies was telling them to wrap up the break.

Their audience started making their way into the stands to watch the rest of their practice.

And then they were up in the air.

* * *

Mina swiped the sweat away from her forehead as she walked off the quidditch pitch.

Practice had been hard; it had to have been because it took up half the amount of time for a normal practice, but still Davies had worked them to the bone.

She glanced back at Damien, but judging by the sudden shrieks, he was showing off. She looked back and sure enough, he was making a show of taking off his sweaty shirt. She rolled her eyes, instead making her way towards the stairs to Anne and Ginny.

The ravenclaw team passed by the gryffindor team as they switched places, and she was patted on the back by Angelina and various other members. They said something, but it was hard to hear as they were running down the stairs.

Mina finally broke the top of the stairs, and Anne was on her feet waving her down, as if she wouldn't be able to see her from the bottom of the bleachers they were sitting at.

"Mina! We're over here!" She rolled her eyes at this, but made her way over.

She saw Ginny's eyes slide from her to just behind her. Mina looked to see Davies just reaching the top of the stairs, casually stretching at the exercise. She looked back and Ginny, who actually sighed, and rolled her eyes.

She was going to friend of the year, but Merlin at what cost.

"Davies, hey, come sit over here with us?"

Roger quirked his eye brows at this, not used to talking to Mina outside of practice. He assumed her and Damien were scheming.

"Just tell me what your doing, Donnelly," he said, a sigh on his breath.

Mina feigned innocence, knowing what he'd meant by it, and pretended like she didn't have an alterior motive.

"What?"

Roger gave her a look that said exactly what he thought.

"You know what I mean. Just tell me whatever you and Damien have planned."

Mina crossed her arms, trying to be offended, but she knew she had earned his suspicion.

"Can't a seeker just seek out the input of her captain? Maybe I just wanna hear what you think about the gryffindor team, ya know? if you have any suggestions to take them down at when we eventually play against each other, I wanna hear them."

He hesitated for a moment, before walking over to her.

"Yeah, alright then. I heard Angelina taking about some of their practice techniques and honestly it's-"

They reached Ginny and Anne and Mina loudly cut him off.

"Davies you know Anne," Anne politely responded to this, "and this is Ginny."

Ginny's wave was small and polite as Mina talked, and was surprised as Roger took her hand to shake it. Mina looked at Anne and rolled her eyes.

Davies went to sit on the bench next to Mina on the end, but he was pulled down by Mina taking her place next to Ginny, whose smile was ecstatic at this.

"As I was saying Angelina-" Mina zoned out as Ginny was hanging onto his every word. She couldn't see the attraction to Davies, who only ever talked about quidditch, and she didn't think Ginny would manage much conversation with a guy who's true passion was at the forefront of every waking moment.

Mina would sooner go mad.

* * *

 **Camping was fun, and I didn't die, which is always kinda a plus. I even wrote a little bit (I had no cell service, so my notes app was my friend).**

 **To those of you who are leaving reviews (and especially more than one) I love you so much, and seeing your names come back up in my emails makes me so happy. Glad everyone's enjoying this so far, I've got some plans for this story and to think we're still only at the** **beginning is crazy.**


	8. Chapter 8

George looked at his brother, who was most definitely not staring at Mina, and almost rolled his eyes at how useless he was.

Maybe that's why when his brother was sluggishly putting his books away in his bag hoping to trail Mina for the hint of a dull conversation, he chased after her in the hallway instead.

"Mina," he shouted causing several people to turn, but he carried on. "Hey Mina! Wait up."

She turned around, and George shifted the bag on his shoulder.

"Hey George, what's up?" She asked as she glanced at him lazily.

His eyes widdened for a moment, before deciding she had just taken a gamble.

"I'm not George, honestly we spend however long sitting next to each other as table mates and you don't even know who I am?" He joked, hoping she'd believe he was Fred.

Her eyebrows crinkled together for a moment, before her eyes widdened.

"Oh, oh!" She drastically lowered her voice, "you guys are pulling a prank, right? I won't tell anyone George, I swear, just please don't rope me into it."

She stared at him for a moment, until George dumbly nodded his head, and then she started walking away. He was trying to still wrap his head around her being able to tell them apart, but he ran after her.

He nudged her arm with his, getting her attention once again.

"Fred and I were going to study for transfiguration in the library tonight, you in? You can bring Anne if you want, we just want to prepare for the test," he said, hoping to draw her in with being able to bring a friend along.

She glanced at him.

"Like, you want us to tutor you guys?"

George shook his head.

"No like us all studying, helping each other out."

She shifted her bag on her shoulder, thinking about it.

"I'm actually well prepared for the test, but I'll tell Anne as she's currently hopelessly lost. Now, if you guys end up doing a herbology study group let me know, because I'm falling behind just a bit."

George scrunched his eyebrows. He though Mina was bad at transfiguration. Although, maybe she was just well prepared for this section and was hopelessly confused on the subject in general. They hadn't asked Aiden to clarify, so maybe that's what he had meant.

He nodded his head.

"Yeah, of course we'll let you know if we do a herbology one."

She looked at him, gratitude in her eyes and a small weight was lifted off of her chest.

"Oh thank Merlin. You guys are saints right now, can we do one before the next test?" He nodded his head. "Fantastic. Oh, and I'll let Anne know about your little study session tonight."

She walked off and George was left standing in the hallway.

Well it had kind of worked out. Sort of. But now they had to study for transfiguration with Anne tonight, without Mina. So a slight bump in the plan.

He jumped when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What was that about?"

George looked at his twin for a second, before answering.

"How do you feel about studying tonight?"

* * *

Fred was going to yell.

Or maybe not, as he glanced at Madam Pince, but he could not believe how bad Anne was at transfiguration.

No, George was bad at transfiguration. Anne was hopeless. Completely and utterly hopeless.

And Mina wasn't even here so he couldn't... we'll he didn't know what he'd do, but he knew having her here would be infinitely better than her not being here.

He watched George try to walk Anne through it again, instead choosing to tap his quill on the edge of his paper which was already all written out. Fred pulled his quill away before he completely destroyed his homework for the one class he liked, instead opting to doodle on a spare piece of parchment.

"I need a break," Anne said as loud as Madam Pince would allow without kicking them out, before leaning back on her chair's back legs, after throwing her quill down.

"So do I," George seconded, and Fred smiled knowing it was because Anne was giving him a headache.

"Okay, so what do we do on this break?"

"Just sit here and think about dinner. Maybe desert if we're feeling particularly wild."

Fred and George looked at her as she was zoning out before looking back at each other.

"Or," George started.

"Or?" His twin followed suite, ready for whatever highjinks he had planned.

"Or," George continued, "we can have a little fun."

Anne slammed down onto all the legs of the chair.

"Like what?" She asked excitedly, ready to forget about transfiguration entirely.

"Like," Fred bounced back," how about a small prank on someone in here."

"Anyone you want," George added back, hoping to get her on board.

Anne eagerly scanned the room but when her eyes landed on a specific slytherin she knew it could be no one else.

"I don't know how I could ever choose," she said not looking away from Jae.

George followed her gaze, and kicked Fred's foot. He nodded his head.

"Well I guess we'll just have to choose for you," Fred said, catching what George meant.

George nodded his head.

Anne looked back and forth between the two somewhat frantic, before blurting out.

"Jae Fellows, let's do something to her."

Fred and George shared a smile, before leaning in on the table.

"We have been meaning to test some products out," George started, and lifted his back onto the table.

Anne pulled her chair close to him eagerly, trying to peer into his bag.

"Don't taunt me, please just tell me what we're doing."

George closed the flap of his bag looking at Fred in fake seriousness.

Fred looked at Anne.

"You are subjected to all conditions if we go through with this, some of which might include detention or being awarded points by Dumbledore."

Anne waived her hand.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon get to the cool part part already."

George pulled out a small lolly before gingerly placing it onto the table.

"This is our hottest product right now," Fred said.

She looked at it for a moment, before looking back between the two of them.

"So what's it do?"

George looked at her amused. "We just told you, it is _literally_ our hottest product right now."

Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"So what's the plan?"

"You tell us, we'll follow your lead," George said and Anne's eyes danced.

* * *

Anne was out of breath, she had a stitch in her side from running and from laughing.

She was having a hard time catching up with the twins because of their long legs, and the fact she could still hear Jae screaming didn't help her laughing.

"This way," Fred, or maybe it was George, shouted and they darted around a corner. She pushed herself harder and was immodestly pulled into a small alcove.

With one of the twins it might be cozy, but with all three of them in there it was down right cramped. They all watched with baited breath for madam pince to run by, the clacks of her heels making it hard for Anne to stop laughing.

They waited a while for the sound of her shoes some more, but eventually stepped out and casually started walking towards their respective towers.

They walked in moderate silence, mostly listening for sounds of Madam Pince, for five minutes before they ran into Aidan and Mina.

Aidan had finally managed to stop feeling bad about the whole Fred-Mina-Oliver thing. He even let Mina talk his ear off about Wood all dinner, but what he didn't expect to see was Anne, Fred, and George all laughing down the hallway.

He looked back at Mina, who was just going on about the way Oliver's hair moved in the wind (oh boy), when she just saw them.

"Oh, are you guys finally done studying?" She asked, forgetting about Oliver for just a moment.

"You could say that," Fred said, a cheeky smile on his face.

Mina quirked her eyebrow at him, before looking at all of them.

She widdened her eyes as they landed on Anne, who was avoiding eye contact with Mina.

Mina watched Anne for a moment before her eyes widened. "No!" She started out.

"What?" Anne asked nonchalantly.

"Anne-Marie Moore you did not," She said matter of factly, hoping that her friend did indeed not do what she thought she had did.

Aidan was thouroughly lost, all that he knew was that Mina knew something. Fred and George were both immensely impressed that she knew... whatever it is she knew.

"Didn't what?" Anne tried again, not willing to admit to anything.

Mina turned to the twins.

"I can't believe you two pulled her into a prank!" She exclaimed, and George stood just a little bit behind Fred. For no reason in particular. He wasn't scared of the short girl yelling at him at all. No way.

Fred wasn't sure what to think. On the one hand, his crush was talking to him. On the other hand, his crush was yelling at him. She was getting closer to him and looking at him, and he was just a little bit scared of her when she had a crazed look in her eyes.

Aiden nudged Mina as their prefect rounded the corner, and she pulled them all into an small space near a portrait to begin a quiet interrogation.

"Spill it," Mina said, not asking.

Anne stood her ground. Fred could admire that. He'd follow her tactic. But then she looked at him, and his resolve broke a little bit.

"We were studying in the library and Anne needed a break," he started slowly, and George groaned as Fred started to speak.

Mina's eyes shrunk into slits. "And then what happened?"

Fred looked up at the ceiling. Merlin was this hard.

"We may have given Jae a lolly that was hot."

They were all silent for a moment as Mina studied them.

"Jae Fellows?" She asked in a different tone.

Anne and Fred shook their heads emphatically.

"Well," Mina started," I guess just this once, it's fine." Anne smiled to herself, knowing that Mina wasn't fond of Jae either. "Aiden where were they after they calmly left the library?"

"On their way to walk Anne to meet up with us by our tower, like the gentlemen that they are," Aiden piped in finally catching what she meant.

They nodded their heads for a moment, and Anne looked between the two.

"Wait, so you'll cover for us?"

"I know how much you don't like Jae, of course I will," Mina said, before turning to looks at Fred and George. "You two get a freebie for now, don't expect this to be a regular occurrence."

They nodded their heads, not wanting to upset her.

Mina's face went from serious to mischievous in a split second as the started the walk back to their common rooms.

"So tell me what her face looked like when you gave it to her?"

* * *

 **This chapters kinda short but the next couple of chapters start to pick back up in length. So I've been updating Monday afternoons PST, but I'm thinking about switching to Sundays around the same time. What do we like better, the Sunday updates or Monday ones? because I'm fine with both, but if you guys are only able to read on the weekends I wanna take that into consideration.**


	9. Chapter 9

Mina walked out of class and was immediately joined by Fred. At first it was annoying, but she figured maybe Aiden had talked to him, and that this was him trying to be friends with her. She wasn't about to upset Aiden because she couldn't play nice.

She'd play nice alright. And she'd do it better than Fred could.

They were having polite chatter about class when Mina saw Alicia walking by. She reached out, putting her hand on Fred's arm to stop him from walking.

Fred was fine standing there for as long as possible. He didn't know what she wanted, but she was touching him and that was immensely better than talking about transfiguration.

"There's Alicia," Mina said, causing Fred to turn his head in her direction.

"There she is," Fred continued, humor in his voice as he wasn't sure where Mina was going with the thought. Mina gave him a look without any humor, still not moving her hand, although she didn't realize it was still on him, before talking again.

"There's Alicia," she said again. "Our friend Aiden's crush." She added a little quieter.

Fred was still lost, and his face showed it.

"Okay, what does that mean for us."

Proud that there was an 'us' to be talked about, although not the 'us' he would've wanted, he was going to take what he could get.

Mina rolled her eyes, dragging Fred along with her hurriedly as she was pushing past people to get to Alicia.

"Just play along with what I say," she said. "Alicia! Hey Alicia, hold up!"

Alicia turned, and waited for both of them to reach her. When they stopped Mina realized she was still holding onto Fred, and much to his disappointment, dropped her hand from his arm.

"What's up," Alicia asked, ready to get to lunch in a hurry before Angelina managed to grab all the good food.

Mina looked at Fred for a moment before looking back at Alicia, trying to stretch the time she had to gather her thoughts. "Some of us were going to be by the lake later and just hang out, if you wanted to join. Aiden's gonna be there."

"We were?" Mina elbowed Fred. "Oh, yeah we were. I forgot that was today."

Alicia was silent for a moment, thinking on it, before making up her mind.

"Yeah, alright," she beamed. "Yeah I'd love to hang out with you guys. I'll catch you then."

She walked away, and Fred raised an eyebrow at Mina.

"Does Aiden know about 'hanging out by the lake later'," Fred used air quotes.

Mina huffed a breath of air.

"No, but if someone hurried up on our way to the dining hall, I could go do that now."

She grabbed him again, dragging him to the dining hall. Eventually though, he overtook her with his long legs, and she was left holding onto him walking as fast as she could to tell Aiden.

They got to the entrance, And Mina drew her arm from him, out of breath from walking so fast, before she turned to him.

"Okay, I'm going to go tell Aiden. I'll have him out on the lake an hour before dinner, make sure Alicia is out by then," she stared at him waiting for his answer, and Fred nodded, unable to speak from how close Mina was to him.

"Great, and with luck that's all the push they'll need."

Mina walked off to her seat next to Aiden to warn him, and Fred walked off to his table in a slight daze.

Angelina watched the two part from the door and squinted her eyes. She wasn't sure what what going on, but she didn't like it.

* * *

Mina slapped Aiden's hand away from his tie.

"Are you sure about this?" Aiden asked nervously, homework carefully dragged in front of him, and various candy left from the trolly on the train from the ride at the start of the year.

"Yes, now stop fidgeting. If you're really desperate I can hang around and mediate, but if not I'll dash and you two can bond and what not."

He went to mess with his tie again and Mina slapped his hand away once again.

Thankfully Alicia and Fred turned the corner and came into eyesight. And also Angelina? This put a slight dip in Mina's plans, but maybe she could pull Angelina away from Alicia, so she could talk to Aiden by herself.

When Fred was waiting for Alicia he was going through his plans. He had purposely told George not to come in the hopes that while Alicia and Aiden were getting close, maybe he could do the same with Mina.

But then Angelina rounded the corner after Alicia and he thought, well maybe she has to go to the library. When she followed them out onto the grounds, he knew it wasn't going to go as planned.

"Hope you don't mind that I brought Angelina, I thought more people were going to be hanging around," Alicia said to Mina and Aiden, but just looking at the later.

Mina waved a hand.

"You're fine. We tried getting some other people but they bailed so it's just us," she lied nonchalantly. "Aiden was so kind as to bring some snacks along, isn't he so nice?"

Aiden nodded his head, tongue stuck in his throat, unable to talk as he looked at Alicia. A faint blush crept its way onto Alicia's face when she replied.

"How thoughtful."

She took a seat next to Aiden. But then Fred sat down on the other side of the blanket by Mina and Angelina followed suit, scooting a little closer to Fred than necessary. Mina was keeping one eye on the shy couple, as she was talking about quidditch and classes with Fred and Angelina when the topic of hogsmeade came up.

"Well, maybe we can all go into next Hogsmeade together?" She asked looking at Alicia and Aiden.

"I'd like that," Alicia said.

"Yeah," Aiden said dumbly.

Mina rolled her eyes at him to herself, although Fred caught it and smiled to himself, as she reached for a piece of chocolate and opened it. She tore it open and offered it to Fred when she saw him looking.

"Uh sure, I'll take some," he grabbed a piece. "I thought I heard someone say you didn't like sweets, although maybe I just heard wrong."

Aiden was throughly sweating now. He was slowly getting used to being around Alicia, but Fred was sending him looks and he knew he was in trouble now. Oh boy, he hoped more than anything he wouldn't ask him about it.

Mina scrunched her eyebrows together.

"I don't know who would've told you that, I've actually got a bit of a sweet tooth. Maybe they confused me and Anne around?" She asked, plopping another small square of chocolate into her mouth.

Fred watched the motion, a little distracted by it. "Yeah, maybe."

Mina finished her chocolate bar, after offering some to Angelina who must've thought she was rude for not offering some earlier by the way she was staring at her, before grabbing a book out of her bag. She leaned in to Fred and talked lightly.

"Keep an eye on them will you?" She gestured her head towards Anne and Aiden. "Madam Pomfrey has me researching muggle medicine." She waved her book a little.

"Yeah, of course. I'll make sure they don't embarrass each other," he leaned in just a little closer, just a little bit quieter. They smiled at each other for a moment, appreciating it for what it was.

"What are we talking about," Alicia popped in, leaning over in a position that look painful, but admittedly showed off her muscles from quidditch nicely.

Mina gestured her head again to Aidan and Anne.

"Keep an eye on them for me, I'm going to be reading," she said again.

Angelina looked over at the not quite couple who were sharing quiet chatter. Alicia let out a laugh, and Angelina looked back at Mina.

"Got it. Enjoy the book," she said, turning back to Fred trying to get his attention.

Mina leaned back against the tree behind her, although she had to scoot a little closer to Fred in order to do so. She opened the book and started reading.

She grabbed another piece of candy as she felt herself nodding off, in an effort to stay awake.

Even when Angelina said she had to leave to go study before dinner, she was still nodding off slowly. Oh so slowly.

Fred opted to work on his potions homework, deciding that it didn't really matter if it was done, so that he could spend equal parts of his time watching Aiden and Alicia, as well as Mina.

When Mina leaned into him to lean against the tree he got excited. What did she mean by that? Was she trying to touch him? Or was she just looking for the optimal reading position?

But then her head started nodding, and he knew what was happening. He was well acquainted with it as it's what he did in every History of Magic class. At some point her head gently rest on him and he knew he would be willing to stay there for as long as she needed.

No way would he want to wake her up, he thought to himself, watching her breathing steady out. He took her bookmark and placed it into her book before she ended up losing her place, setting the book gingerly down beside her bag.

He really did try to do homework at this point. He had all the time as Aiden and Alicia were now quietly working on homework. And yet, the pressure Mina had on his arm was the biggest distraction in world. She was so small, and still.

"Fred."

He looked up startled at Aiden who was watching him. It wasn't as big of a deal to be caught looking at Mina by him, but judging by Alicia's smile she had caught him as well.

"Yeah?" He asked quietly, trying not to wake Mina.

"We should head in for dinner. Can you wake Mina up, and we can take care of the rest of this stuff?"

Fred looked around. Merlin, he thought, when did it get so dark out. He nodded his head slowly, trying to not startle Mina.

Aiden and Alicia set off, gathering the various candies and books strewn across the lawn.

Fred turned back to Mina.

"Mina?" He asked quietly, not quite willing to wake her up yet.

She shifted further into him, and Merlin did it just become infinitely harder to wake her, because he didn't want to.

He put a hand gently on her shoulder and shook it. "Mina, c'mon it's time for dinner."

Mina opened her eyes gingerly, looking at him for a moment, before pulling herself away from him.

His shoulder grew cold at her absence, but he brushed it off as a chill from the wind.

"Oh, Fred. I'm sorry, you could've woken me up sooner. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. I guess my book was a little bit more dull than I originally thought," and then she looked down confused to where her book had last been.

"I put the bookmark in it, and stuck it by your bag. Didn't want you to lose your place," he said, standing up now gathering his stuff.

Mina sat still for a moment. That was incredibly sweet. In fact, if she wasn't already into someone, that would've been the defining moment of a crush on him. Nonetheless, her heart still melted a little bit at the gesture.

Fred turned after stretching and extended a hand to Mina to pull her up.

Mina raised an eyebrow at him for a moment before taking it. She was surprised by the force at which he pulled her up with. He hadn't struggled at all. In fact, it had been a little over done and she ended up running into him. Fred steadied her in his arms, and she had grabbed onto his chest to stop herself from falling. His face must've matched his hair. He was thankful for the sun going down slowly, as he hoped it was hiding his blush.

"Sorry about that," he said ducking his head to busy himself by grabbing her stuff and the blanket they had been sitting on.

Mina was in shock, and frankly heating up a little bit. She didn't need a crush on Fred to blush at how close they had just been. She hoped her hair would do something to cover it, as she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

"Why Fred, you've got me falling all over you today," she said cheekily, the only thing she could manage to think of.

He nodded his head dumbly, his tongue not wanting to work. He offered her bag to her and she took it thankfully.

The group silently made their way into the castle, and Fred and Mina fell back a little bit behind Aiden and Alicia.

"Any progress for them?" Mina asked, bumping into Fred's arm in a friendly gesture.

Fred bumped her back.

"They might be a lost cause, they started working on homework at one point and asking each other on pointers for their essays."

"Merlin," Mina said, wiping a hand down her face. "This calls for extreme measures."

Fred looked at her cheekily. "Oh? And what would that be?" He bumped her again.

Mina shot him a look full of humor, and bumped back into him. "Are you, Fred Weasley, telling me that you don't have the faintest idea on how to get them together."

"No, I've got plenty of ideas," he bumped her once again. "I was just waiting for your master plan."

"Humor me?"

Fred thought for a moment.

"We lock them in a room by themselves?"

Mina's laugh was loud as they walked, and drew in some looks from people walking to the dining hall. Fred's face was deadpanned.

"What's wrong with that?"

Mina wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. "Fred, if that's your grand plan, then you might be hopelessly lost." She bumped him again.

Fred stopped for a moment for catching up to Mina.

"I'll have you know that I am a catch."

"Mhm, I'm sure you are. I'll let anyone who's fishing know to look for you."

Fred bumped her back, humor playing in his voice. "Don't be rude."

Mina laughed again. She looked up and put a hand out to stop him.

"Hold on give them a moment to say good night," they stood off to the side and watched as Alicia gave Aiden a meek hug, before darting into the hall.

"Did you see that! Aiden got a hug, he's so there," Fred said excitedly.

Mina looked at him with feigned sadness.

"If that's what you get excited over, then you must live a pretty sad life."

Fred pulled an over exaggerated gasp, before placing his hand over his heart.

"You wound me Miss Donnelly, you really do."

Mina rolled her eyes, and bumped into him again before walking into the dining room.

* * *

Anne really disliked Jae Fellows, and yet, for some reason she just couldn't manage to avoid her. The universe was cruel.

"Hey! I'm talking to you Anne-Marie, don't just walk away from me."

Anne spun on her heel and looked at Jae.

"We both know how this is going to go. You're going to accuse me of doing whatever thing you accidentally did, and then place the blame on me either way," she said, turning to walk away from her, done with the conversation already.

She heard someone run after her, and then felt a hand on her. She was roughly spun around.

"I know it was you who gave me the candy, you could've killed me. I know you're cruel, but I didn't think you were that cruel."

Anne rolled her eyes.

"Just because you bought the wrong candy at honey dukes doesn't make it my problem too."

Jae's hand tightened on her arm, and Anne began to think of the bruise that would be there in the morning.

"You're a real bitch, you know that, Moore?" Jae had a cruel smile on her face.

Anne's fist tightened into a ball.

Jae continued. "What are you gonna do, huh? Hex me? We're on school grounds, Moore, you can't do anything. You're completely and utterly hopeles-"

Anne swung and Jae was holding her cheek, disbelief over what happened.

"That's muggle style, bitch."

She turned and walked away, hoping that Jae would be too much of a wuss to go to the hospital wing. That would mean having to admit to having been punched, and that would ruin Jae's carefully constructed image.

Anne walked into the great hall and quickly sat down. Mina and Aiden looked at her as she hurriedly piled food onto her plate, before sharing a look.

"What'd you do?" Aiden asked accusatorily.

"Hrm?" Anne feigned like she hasn't heard him.

Mina was watching her carefully and her eyes finally landed onto Anne's hand.

"Anne-Marie, what in Merlin's name happened to your hand?"

Anne looked at her hand and say it was beginning to bruise slightly. She looked back at Mina.

"Would you believe I walked into a wall?"

Mina looked unamused.

"Alright, alright. Hypothetically speaking, what type of incidents do you see in the hospital wing as a result of injury," she carefully ate with her other hand, trying not to draw attention to it.

Mina's eyes squinted. "Anne you did not!"

Aiden looked back and forth between the two girls.

"What didn't you do? What didn't she do?"

Anne looked at him before gesturing to Mina. "You just heard her, she said I didn't do anything."

Mina didn't listen to her, instead turning to Aiden. "She got in a fight."

"You got in a fight?" Aiden looked back to Anne in awe.

"Not exactly," Anne hesitated.

Mina's eyes somehow got thinner. "What do you mean 'not exactly'."

Anne nervously took a sip from her mug before continuing. "It's not much of a fight if, um, hypothetically speaking the other person was knocked down and didn't throw a punch."

"Alright, Anne," Aiden excitedly exclaimed, before Mina turned her glare to him.

"No, not 'alright, Anne.'" She turned back to Anne. "You could've gotten seriously hurt." She thought for a moment before continuing. "At least tell us who it was?"

Anne shook her head, instead choosing to put as much food as she could in her mouth.

"C'mon Anne, please? It's going to kill me not knowing," Aiden whined.

Shoving enough food into her mouth to possibly choke herself, she got distracted when Jae walked into the dining hall, head held high and a bruise already forming on her cheek.

Aiden and Mina followed her gaze.

"Alright, Anne!" Aiden repeated with more excitement.

Even Mina was unable to hide some of the excitement from her face.

"What? You're not gonna scold me?" Anne asked Mina.

Mina thought for a moment, before deciding this was a personal win for Anne. Considering how much the two verbally fought, it was a shock neither had thrown a punch earlier.

"Not unless you don't tell us what happened," Mina said, pointing her spoon at Anne accusatorily.

Anne smiled and set her fork down, ready to entertain her audience.


	10. Chapter 10

It was a quidditch day.

If Mina hadn't been involved with quidditch, even she would know it was by the hype that gryffindor was building for it.

People were just a little bit excited for it.

Walking out of potions, she was expecting to only hear the hum of exited Gryffindor's, but instead she ran straight into Oliver Wood.

"Oh, sorry Oliver."

"You're fine, Mina. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Mina shook her head. "No I'm fine. I'm heading to the dining hall what about you?"

He nodded his head. "Me too, I'll walk with you."

They walked silently for a moment, before Oliver picked up the conversation again.

"So are you going to the quidditch game today?"

"I don't think I could miss it with all the hype you guys have been creating for it," she let out a small laugh.

He nodded his head seriously for a moment.

"Do you have any suggestions for us?"

Mina raised an eyebrow at him. "What? Like don't fall off your broom?"

Oliver looked at her without humor.

"I'm serious."

Mina put her hands up in surrender. "I was only joking. I can't think of anything honestly, just as long as everyone's focused it should go well for you guys."

Oliver nodded his head. It was quiet for a couple of minutes before he picked up again.

"Because gryffindor does have a winning streak against them, it's just Slytherin got new brooms this year and I'm not sure how our odds will be affected. When the..." Mina zoned out for a minute as he started talking about professional quidditch player statitisics.

It's not that she wasn't interested in what he had to say. It was just... a lot. He talked a lot about quidditch.

Like a lot more than she expected him to; although, she had to admit, she hadn't had that many conversations with him, and it's not like she hadn't had a proper warning by everyone she's ever had a conversation with.

After five minutes of him talking about it, Mina was officially lost. She could only nod her head along to what he was saying and hope he didn't ask her any questions. And she thought talking to Davies was rough.

Oliver kept going when she saw Ginny, and she was relieved to be able to break away from the conversation. Which maybe wasn't too good of a sign, considering it was her crush she was talking about.

"Hey, Oliver. I'd love to keep chatting. I really would, but I told Ginny I'd meet with her before the lunch," Mina interrupted.

Oliver nodded his head. "Of course, I should probably go brief the team one last time."

Mina nodded her head, and ran off towards Ginny, who was confused at having someone wrap an arm around her arm.

"Oh, hey Mina. What's up?"

Mina looked at her in desperation for a minute. "I just actually ran away from a conversation with Oliver. He would not stop talking about quidditch. I play quidditch Ginny, I don't follow professional quidditch."

Ginny nodded her head thoughtfully.

"I've given up on Roger completely because of that," she waved a hand on front of her face. "I'm onto bigger fish. Anyways, there's no shame in admitting that it's not compatible."

Mina sighed.

"I know it's just... I've had a crush on him since first year. And he's nothing like how I imagined him to be," Mina said. Ginny patted her arm, like she was years wiser than Mina was, despite being younger.

"It's rough at first. You just gotta find your bigger fish," Ginny paused thoughtfully for a minute, before giving Mina a serious look. "Just don't pick my fish, of course."

Mina looked at Ginny, already starting to feel better. "Of course, I would never. Not that I know who your fish is..." She trailed off, hoping to get a response back as to who it was.

Ginny bit her lip, thinking for a minute. They were quiet for a moment, but then there was a hum of a crowd that could only belong to Gryffindors before a game.

Sure enough, the gryffindor quidditch team slowly passed them. Mina watched Ginny as they passed, waiting to see if it was anyone on the team.

Her eyes trailed on Harry and she knew then that it was him, without a doubt. She was just about to make a snarky comment about it, but an arm was slung around Ginny.

"Are you two on your way to support us today?" George asked.

An arm came around onto Mina, making her jump. Her hand went to her chest.

"Do say you are, or you'll hurt our feelings," Fred added.

Ginny rolled her eyes, and shrugged George's arm off of her. "Sod off, you two."

Mina looked to Fred. "Merlin, you scared me." He shot her a sorry smile, but left his arm on her as they walked.

George looked hurt at the gesture.

"Forge, our dear baby sister doesn't care about us."

Fred turned to his brother, arm still slung across Mina.

"That _is_ a tragedy, Gred. What about you Miss Donnelly? You going to support some top Gryffindors?"

Mina laughed and nodded her head.

"I mean, when my other option is Slytherin it's pretty obvious where I lie on that, personally. However, I don't want to hear about how crazy your exclusive house party is either way," she faked a pout, and Ginny patted her arm sympathetically.

"I'll party enough for the two of us Mina, don't worry," Mina shot Ginny a look at this, but was cut off by Fred who leaned over to look at Ginny.

"No you will not, young lady. You will be in bed early tonight," his face was stern.

"Oh c'mon," Ginny said. "Tell him that's out of bounds!" She turned to George.

Mina listened to the siblings bickering for a while and smiled to herself. While they might be frustrated with each other, it must be nice to have someone around their age to bond with in the way they had. Mina almost wished she'd had a sibling for it. Her smile widened as Ginny was growing more emphatic.

Fred caught this, and leaned into her slightly. "And what do you recommend for this young lady? I think we're being too leinant on her."

She bit her lip, thinking for a second. Eventually, she decided to play along.

"You're being too hard on the girl," she said, gently tapping him on the chest.

"Someone has some common sense, thank goodness Mina's here."

Mina looked at Ginny, still playing along. "Now if you happen to see any nice boys who want to take you along, just remember to be safe."

Ginny groaned and tried walking away from them.

"Ginny dear, we're just concerned for you. Don't forget to always watch your drink. If you need a ride, don't be afraid to call," Mina shouted after her.

Fred was laughing onto Mina. "Just remember to be safe?"

Mina was laughing too, caught up in the fun of the joke. It took them a minute to realize that George had walked away at some point. They stared at each other for a moment, before Fred took his arm off of her and smiled at her shyly.

They stared at each other for another moment before Mina piped up.

"Well, good luck today. Kick some Slytherin butt."

He smiled at her. "That's the plan. Don't worry, if you're really interested we can get you into the party, it's not entirely as exclusive as you'd think."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

They stood still for a moment before Anne came running by.

"Mina there you are, quick which shade of red goes with my complexion more? This one or this one?" She alternated between two shades that were the same. "Oh, you can choose too if you want?" Anne said in Fred's direction, opting to not say names at all at risk of being wrong.

Fred studied the two sweaters before looking between the two girls.

"I'm going to have to take a rain check on that. I've got to go or Wood's going to have a heart attack. I'll catch you two at the party afterwards if it goes well," he smiled cheekily before walking off.

Anne turned back to Mina.

"You managed to get us into their afterparty? Nice, well now I have to go with a _different_ red entirely."

Mina was dragged all the way back to their dorm, and was forced to look through however many different shades of red that Anne owned.

* * *

The gryffindor party was in full swing, seeing as how they had won the game. The prefects were a little more leinant when they won games, causing the house to be a little louder, drunker, and obnoxiouser.

Anne however, was thrilled just at the thought of seeing a different common room.

"Oh look! They have a fireplace!" Anne shouted in her ear.

"Anne, we have a fireplace," Mina's comment was disregarded as she was dragged around various parts of the common room. Or as much as Anne could. The Gryffindor common room was packed, and somehow still managed to hold more people than it should be able too. They squeezed by another group of people who were being way too rowdy to be sober.

"Hey Mina! Anne! Over here!" Ginny shouted, waving them over.

Mina was dragged by Anne over to her. Ginny handed them two cups which Anne promptly downed. Mina shot Ginny a questioning look.

"Don't worry, it's nothing fun. They won't let me have anything," she added, nodding her head to where the twins were standing, hovering just close enough they could keep an eye on their sister, but far away enough they could still have fun.

"They're just trying to look after you, Ginny," Mina said.

Ginny gave her a bland look. "They're just trying to make sure I have no fun is more like it. I don't need a babysitter in my own common room," She rolled her eyes.

Angelina rolled up beside them, excitement from the earlier win feeding her energy.

"You guys made it!"

Mina smiled at her kindly. "Of course we did, we wouldn't miss it after the move you pulled today. That was absolutely crazy! I don't know how you managed to pull it off!"

Angelina gleamed for a moment.

"Neither do I, to be honest. Although, making two Slytherins run into each other was a nice touch to it all."

They both smiled at each other and Mina realized just how packed the room was getting.

"I'm gonna go get some air, there's just a little too many people in here for me right now," she said, and Anne and Ginny waived her on.

"Here let me walk with you, it is getting kind of crazy," Angelina added.

The two pushed their way to the door, just barely tripping over themselves in the process, before stumbling into the hallway.

"Man, you guys sure know how to throw a party."

Angelina threw back her head and laughed, but kept walking with Mina.

"Yeah, but sometimes," she gestured with her hand," it gets a little out of hand." They walked in silence for a minute, before Angelina picked back up. "We should hang out more often, you know?"

Mina looked at her, sincerely touched that she wanted to hang out with her.

"Yeah?"

Angelina nodded her head. "Of course. We've got mutual friend groups, it only makes sense that we'd get to know each other more."

"Yeah, alright. We'll have to plan something sometime."

They walked on for a little bit, when Angelina tapped her on the arm, stopping her from getting any further.

"there's a couple over there," she pointed. "let's scare the daylights outta them."

They walked a little bit further before Angelina bounced in front of the kissing couple.

"Oi, get a room you two. Some people are trying to walk here."

The boy turned around, and Mina was shocked to see Oliver and a small gryffindor girl who was slowly turning her house color.

Angelina barked back a laugh as Oliver told her to sod off, and she wrapped her arm through Mina's as they walked off.

She leaned into Mina.

"This happens after every win. Oliver's in this hall with some girl, celebrating the night away," she wiggled her eyebrows at what she said.

Mina gave her a small smile.

Angelina was studying her carefully through her own smile. She'd seen the way she'd looked at Oliver last week. And the week before that. She guided Mina over here for that very purpose. Maybe she'd hang out in this hallway next win to be with Oliver, and stay away from Fred.

Mina looked at Angelina's cheeky smile, and realized something. She was a really good friend to have. She must've realized that she'd had a thing for Oliver, and just told her to give up on him while she was still at it.

In fact, Mina thought as they walked on in silence, she realized that she hadn't felt much at seeing the two in the hall. Maybe a little embarrassed for the girl, but other than that there was nothing. Maybe her crush was finally passing over her.

The two walked a little further before Angelina started talking again.

"I think I'm gonna head back in. Savor the party while I still can."

Mina nodded her head.

"I think I'm gonna turn in for the night. Not sure I could handle much more of the crowd." The two waved each other good night and parted.

Mina rounded the corner and almost ran straight into Fred.

She grabbed onto him to steady herself.

"Bloody hell, you scared me. What are you doing walking around corners without seeing who's walking on the other side of them," he teased her.

She smiled apologetically.

"Your common room was getting a little two crowded for me to handle, I had to get some air," she realized her hands were still on his arms, so she dropped them.

"So we're out here for the same reason then," said Fred, causing Mina to raise an eye brow at him.

"I thought you were watching Ginny?"

Fred turned and started walking slowly. Mina followed.

"I was, she went up to bed twenty minutes ago."

Mina nodded her head, and the two walked in silence.

"Did you happen to see Anne?"

Fred nodded his head, and looked at her. "Last I saw she was getting real friendly with a sixth year."

Mina shook her head. "She'll make her way back to our dorm eventually then, I'm not gonna go and hunt her down."

They walked further, until Mina squinted her eyes as she thought she saw something. She walked a little faster.

"What?" Fred said, keeping up with her pace.

"Hang on," she said as she continued to pick up her speed.

She rounded a corner, and then held her arm out to stop Fred from going any further. He ran into her arm and gave her a look. Mina pointed and whispered.

"Look."

At the end of the hallway, Aiden was walking with Alicia slowly, his hand in hers as they talked. Alicia had her head leaning towards him as they whispered to one another.

"I can't believe he did it," Fred said shocked.

"Neither can I," Mina added. "C'mon, let's follow them."

"What?" Fred said, sending her a funny look.

"Where's your curiosity? Let's see what they're up to," she started walking.

Fred ran and caught up to her.

"I really don't want to go and watch them snog in some corner."

Mina rolled her eyes.

"They're not gonna go and snog in some corner, he barely just got the courage to hold her hand and that's what you think they'll be doing?"

She kept walking, forcing Fred to catch up to her.

Aiden and Alicia were slowly making their way towards ravenclaw tower. Mina assume Aiden was telling her all about it as they walked about the hallway. She saw them quickly dart into a room and she looked up quickly to see why.

Her prefect was at the end of the hall, having made eye contact with her, and was now marching her way to them.

Mina flipped onto Fred hurriedly.

"Quick follow my lead, and hopefully we won't get in trouble," she said.

His eyebrows squinched together, but he nodded his head.

Mina kept an eye on him, and an eye on her prefect until she came into earshot.

"Sorry," Mina muttered, as she slapped Fred in the face.

"Ow, bloody hell, woman. That hurt."

Mina ignored him.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me," she whined, her eyes already tearing up and her voice wobbly. "My friends were right about you, ya know? They told me you'd do this to me, and I didn't listen." She pretended to cry, and she felt Fred's hand go onto her back. Her prefect had stopped, instead opting to watch how this was going to turn out.

Fred was confused but caught on quick after the slap. His heart ached at Mina crying, and he decided that if she wanted to become an actors, she probably could. He put a hand on her back, and a hand on her chin forcing her to look at him. Her watery eyes met his dry ones.

"Hey, now," he said just barely loud enough for the prefect to hear. "It's not true, none of it is. You know I'd never do that to you."

Mina looked Fred in the eyes and realized this was why he was able to pull off however many pranks. He was a great actor. She looked away from him, only to have her gaze brought back to him as he guided her chin back up.

"C'mon, look at me. You know I didn't do it, right?" Fred turned to the prefect who was edging closer. "Can we have a minute? I know we're supposed to be in our common rooms right now, but this is kinda important."

The prefect studied them for a moment, and Mina willed her eyes to stay watery for extra effect. Her prefect sighed.

"Oh, alright. But as soon as you've talked it out, straight to the dorms with the both of you." They nodded and the prefect walked off. They waited for her to round the corner for them to talk.

"Quite the actor you are, you almost had me crying over here about something I didn't do," Fred said as he dabbed at the corners of his eyes.

Mina giggled.

"Sorry. But at least now I can see how you get away with so many pranks, you flew right with the punches."

Fred rubbed his cheek.

"More like the slap. Did you have to hit me so hard? That hurt. How'd you know that was going to work anyway," he whined.

Mina rolled her eyes, but dragged him to a bench to look at his cheek. Fred looked up at her as she moved his head in her hands.

"It had to be loud enough for her to hear. She's a sucker for romance, if there's a couple fighting or making up on a particular week she knows about it. It's a known fact that if you pretend to be a couple she'll be leinant on you."

Fred though to himself for a moment. "I will keep that in mind."

Mina lent over, inspecting his cheek as he watched her. She poked and prodded and rotated in full doctor mode, and Fred could only take her in as she moved. His pain was already forgotten as he was watching how the moonlight hit her blonde hair, and how it was lighting up different parts of it as she shifted back and forth. He spoke quietly, trying not to break the moment, if there even was one.

"So how bad is it, doc?"

"You'll have some bruising but I can take care of that right now," she said, waving her wand as the slight bruise that was already on his cheek began to disappear.

"Thanks," he muttered, standing up off the bench looking around. "That was fun, but I think we lost them."

Mina waved her hand.

"Well just follow them next time, it's not a big deal. They'll probably be in the same place anyways."

Next time? Fred grinned to himself. He liked the sound of that.

"Alright then. Next time it is, hopefully you won't have slap me then," he said causing Mina to wince a little.

"Have I said that I'm sorry about that? I do feel bad, even though it saved us from detention."

Fred waved his hand at her this time.

"Don't sweat it, as long as you aren't making a habit of it," he nudged her playfully.

Mina smiled, before sighing exasperatedly. "I _guess_ I can try."

They walked down the hallway a little bit, throwing small jokes at one another as they went.

Aiden and Alicia peered out of the classroom they had ducked into as the voices had gone further away.

"They'd make a cute couple, don't you think?" Alicia said.

Aiden nodded his head, hoping desperately that Mina was getting over Oliver, because it would fix the mess that he got himself into.


	11. Chapter 11

Mina dodged clothes like her life depended on it.

Her roommates were rampant in their quest to find the cutest outfit to wear to hogsmeade, and she was afraid that this was how she would die. Death by high heel, she thought, as one was thrown over a girls shoulder blindly while she was digging through her chest.

It was too early for this, Mina would've exclaimed, but they were too far gone. She quickly rushed to get ready despite the early hour, just barely making it out of the room without glitter eyeshadow and red lipstick on her sweater. She huffed against the door as it just barely closed, avoiding Anne's comments of 'which lipstick? which lipstick?' as she ducked out.

She straightened out her sweater, before gracelessly plopping down onto the couch with her book. It was early enough in the morning that she didn't have to worry about taking up too much room, so she sprawled out and was ready to hop into the world of muggle medicine.

She glanced up when she heard footsteps a good while later, and put her bookmark in her book as Aiden came and sat down on the couch beside her. Mina looked over his outfit, failing to hide her smile.

"So, what's the inspiration for this look?" Aiden looked at her confused for a moment.

"What? I think it looks fine."

Mina snorted. "Yeah, fine if you're going to your grans house maybe."

Aiden groaned.

He picked at his sweater, which was a jumble of many different colors, and Mina took note that he didn't even have matching shoes on.

"I'm freaking out Mina, I've got no idea what to wear or if Alicia will like it or not."

Mina studied him for a moment.

"You're allowed to be nervous, but don't think what you wear is entirely going to impact how she thinks of you. Besides, I'm sure Anne already has your outfit mentally planned, so don't sweat it."

Aiden's face paled.

"Please tell me you're going to keep her within reason."

Mina held up her book.

"I have to finish this day otherwise Madam Pomfrey will have my head. You're on your own on this one."

Aidan groaned again, and as the door to Mina's room opened he paled even more.

"Oh, Aidan! What in Merlin's name are you wearing? C'mon, get up, back up to your dorm we go," Anne waved him up off the couch, and Mina sent him a cheeky look when she thought Anne wasn't looking.

But sure enough, Anne had somehow managed to catch it.

"Don't think you're off the hook for that sweater, Miss Mina. I will be back for you," Anne called, climbing the stairs up to Aidan's room.

Mina paled, before deciding that if Anne tried to mess with her today, she'd have to make a run for it.

* * *

Waiting anxiously by the door to their common room, Mina knew there would be no way Anne would have enough time to mess with her. They were already going to be late if she didn't hurry up playing dress up with Aidan.

Anne finally descended down the stairs, stopping next to Mina, before giving Aidan the queue to come down.

Mina nodded as she took in his appearance. His sleeves had been rolled up and he had a jacket just strewn over his arm for eventually when he got cold. And his shoes actually matched this time.

"Not to brag," Anne started out, putting her coat on as she talked, "but, damn I'm good at what I do." She twirled her finger for Aidan to do a little spin, which he did, that prompted some hoots from the girls.

After they calmed down, Mina looked to both of them.

"We need to go now, otherwise there's no Hogsmeade at all."

They all ran towards the exit and did a mad dash towards where all the other students for Hogsmeade were lining up.

"We're not too late, are we?" Mina asked, blindly laying an arm on whoever was closest to her to steady herself as she was so unbelievably out of breath.

Fred had jumped. He hadn't expected anyone to come up behind him, so when Mina played a hand on him he tried to play it off. However, she wasn't looking as she was hunched over trying to catch her breath.

"No, you're fine. Showed up just in time, but you all nearly gave poor Alicia here a heart attack," Fred waved to Alicia, who was the least frazzled out of all of them and gave Fred an odd look at this.

Aidan went over to Alicia and they began talking as Mina and Anne talked to the group of friends that were waiting.

"We would've been here earlier if Anne here didn't take forever to get dressed," Mina smiled, making a small jab at Anne.

"At least I've put some care into my appearance Anne, your sweater says that you woke up late."

Mina raised an eyebrow at Anne's playful voice. "My sweater says I chose to comfortably read a book, while waiting for my two best friends to get ready."

"It's a good sweater, I don't see what's wrong with it?" Fred piped in confused. Mina flashed him an appreciative smile.

Anne smiled at him for a moment.

"It's not bad, but mostly I'm just poking fun at Mina."

"Oh," he said, and faded out of the conversation as they waited to get their names marked off.

George came up behind him for a moment before quietly speaking.

"It's a good sweater, huh?"

"Oh sod off."

* * *

Mina like Honeydukes a lot. Something about the smell of chocolate always managed to put her at ease, no matter how stressed out she was. Looking around at the hectic shop, and her friends all hopping around trying to get the others to get a certain candy, she couldn't help but smile.

She picked up some chocolate bars, before turning around. She jumped as she almost ran into someone.

"Your just all over me lately, aren't you?" Fred cheekily said, gaining a sudden bout of confidence.

Mina flashed him an apologetic smile.

"You caught me. I just couldn't stay away when you've got such cute dimples," she reached up and pinched his cheek. Fred tried not to laugh, instead pushing Mina's hand away from his face.

"Easy on the face. What are you, my mother?" His heart was pounding in his chest. Did she really think his dimples were cute? he studied her smile, trying to see if the smallest movements were an indication of anything.

She didn't seem to notice this.

Mina leaned towards him, whispering her next words. "Any updates on Aidan and Alicia?"

Fred glanced to where they were in the store.

Alicia was giggling and Aidan sampled some candy meant to change your voice. They were a solid foot away from one another, not daring to get closer for fear of rejection, and both were smiling at each other stupidly.

"They might be hopeless."

Mina playfully slapped his shoulder as they perused the aisle.

"They are not hopeless," she said, picking up a lolly before adding it to her growing pile of candy. "They are, however, painfully slow. That's what we're here for though."

Fred watched Mina add another one to her pile before heading to the register. He followed her, with a chocolate bar of his own in hand.

"Okay, but are we sure we don't want to just throw in the towel? It's almost painful how slow it is."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, and faked a gasp.

"Fred Weasley, I didn't take you for a quitter. Anyways, some of the best romances take a while to get to, just have some patience." She took her bag and waited for Fred to pay.

"I'm not, I'm not. It's just frustrating. We can both see they like each other, why can't they?" He took he bag and faced her. Mina patted his arm as they turned to face the couple in question. Mina leaned her head towards Fred.

"Fools in love, I suppose."

Angelina watched as Mina purposefully ran into Fred. She was onto her game. Trying to snatch up Fred from her. She wasn't going to have it.

She watched them make their way over to the register before standing over by the door looking at something. When Mina leant in towards Fred, Angie's eyes squinted. Oh no no no. She wasn't going to allow this to happen for a moment longer. She marched over there, and threw a pleasant smile onto her face.

"Hey guys, are you ready to leave? I could kill for a butterbeer right now."

Fred jumped. He hadn't seen Angie come up.

Mina smiled brightly at her, proud that they were slowly becoming friends.

"A butterbeer sounds amazing right now. Let's wait a minute for every to finish getting what they want before heading out."

They stood about in pleasant silence as Mina stood by her friends, waiting for Aidan and Alicia to finish up. Mina smiled at Angie as she caught her eye.

Angelina forced her smile to go bigger as she made awkward eye contact with Mina.

This whole thing was awkward. Awkwardly waiting by Mina, for awkward Aidan to finish awkwardly talking to Alicia. Angelina would've gone mad if not for Fred. She glanced over at him for another moment, instead catching Mina's gaze again. Mina was first to look away, and Angie's smile slipped off of her face going into a glare. She couldn't stand her.

Fred was having a good Hogsmeade trip. He was here with friends, a girl who maybe liked him, and two friends who were almost a couple. Life was good right now.

They all left the store and Angelina siddled up to Mina.

"Hey Mina," she forced out.

"Hey Angie," Mina answered back kindly. "How's your trip been so far?"

Pretty bad because of you, she wanted to say.

"Pretty good. I picked up some sweets to get me through Snape's essay. What about you, you get anything good?"

Mina smiled back at Angie.

"Yeah, I got some chocolate bars to hold me off for a while."

they walked in silence for a while, both of the girls at the end of their group of friends. Angelina was first to speak.

"I just wanted to let you know that Fred likes someone."

"Oh?" Mina asked, wondering why she was being told this.

"Yeah," Angie lied, knowing that he hadn't told her anything like that. "He apparently got it really bad. I just wanted to let you know, so you don't get your heart broken."

Mina's eyebrows raised and her eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm not," she fumbled with her words, not sure how to phrase herself. "Im not into Fred like that. We're just friends."

Angie squinted her eyes at this. What type of fool did Mina think she was?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I totally thought that-"

"-haha, no. It's fine. You're a really good friend to him though, looking out for him."

"Of course I am, he's one of my best friends."

Mina nodded her head, relief over Angelina knowing how she felt.

Both girls jumped when arms came around the both of them.

"Who wants some butterbeer's?" Aiden asked cheerfully.

* * *

Anne had promised everyone she'd meet them for a butterbeer, but she groaned as she rounded the corner.

Why was she always running into Jae, why was the universe so cruel.

Jae must've seen her pivot.

"Moore, wait," Anne kept walking. She felt an arm on her stop her as she was turned around. She raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin in front of her.

"I said wait, not all of us have long legs." Anne rolled her eyes.

"Do you have anything important to say, or can I go? I've got better places to be."

Jae took a calming breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

"I wanted to say," She took another breath before gritting out her next words. "I'm sorry."

Anne was thoroughly baffled.

"I've been going through some stuff, and I _guess_ I might have maybe been taking it out on you. I'll stop from now though."

Anne was concerned for Jae's well being, which was a first. Was she having a stroke? But she knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Jae eyed Anne nervously as she appeared to be thinking.

"I guess I'm sorry to for giving you hot candy." She unclenched her jaw, before speaking again, sounding defeated. "And for punching you in the face."

Jae brushed the last one off.

"Don't be, it was a good punch. I've still got bruising from it," Jae showed he jawline to the taller girl. "Anyways, I kinda deserved it. you knocked some sense into me."

"Literally," Anne said reflexively, used to joking around with Mina.

Jae let out a short laugh.

"Yeah, I guess you literally did it."

They awkwardly stood there for a moment, before Jae spoke again.

"Anyways, I'm not asking to be best friends, or for you to completely forget what I've done to you, but I'd like to turn a new leaf. How about a do over?"

Anne thought for a moment, before cautiously holding her hand out to Jae.

"A do over it is, Fellows. But I'll be watching you carefully."

Jae took her hand in a firm handshake, before darting off.

Anne stood alone. Just her, and her newly formed headache.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoy, I've run out of my stockpile of chapters and am writing this the day before I update, but I am committed to my update schedule.**

 **Anything you guys want to specifically see from this story? Because right now I've got a general plot planned out, but I can maybe worm some things in if you guys want it.**


	12. Chapter 12

Mina folded blankets as she looked over the hospital wing.

It was an uneventful week, but she was certain that would change after Gryffindor's upcoming game against Hufflepuff. Some part of her just knew it would end up with someone in the hospital wing, but maybe she was just being pessimistic. She couldn't help thinking like that with the threat of Sirius Black and the dementors just outside.

She moved onto making the beds, lost in thought.

Maybe this year would be normal. They did seem to have a normal Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, it's not like there was much else to go wrong. Well there was the whole Sirius Black thing, but how likely was he to show up at Hogwarts, really? Especially with the dementors. He'd be crazy to do that. But then again, Mina hadn't heard of a single sane person who ended up in Azkaban.

She paused mid blanket fold, as she heard footsteps running quickly. Looking to Madam Pomfrey to see if she knew what was going on, Mina could see she was just as confused as she was.

Aidan was at the doorway to the hospital wing out of breath.

"Portrait... slashed... Gryffindor... tower..." he panted out.

"Is anyone hurt?" Madam Pomfrey asked, immediately switching into a state of action.

"Dunno... Mina... need to... find... Alicia."

Mina looked back to Madam Pomfrey for a moment before the older woman spoke.

"Go on now. But I'll need you back here later, I have a feeling I'm going to need more sleeping draughts."

Aidan took her hand and ran. She should've known better than to think they'd have a calm year.

* * *

Mina elbowed her way through a group, looking for someone who would explain what was going on. She caught sight of some red hair and took a gamble on it being a Weasley and made her way towards it.

Percy wasn't exactly the Weasley she was hoping for, but one was better than none, she assumed.

"Percy! Hey Percy!" He turned with a look of annoyance on his face as she called to him. "What's going on here? Is anyone hurt?"

"This is a Gryffindor house issue, please go back to your dormitory for the night," he said, straightening out his prefect badge.

Mina could've scoffed. If he wanted to play that game, then she could too.

"I work in the hospital wing, I need to know if anyone's injured."

He sized her up for a moment, before recognizing her.

"Oh, right. Well, no injuries here. Except for the Fat Lady," Mina peered around him, examining the slashed portrait. Her eyes widened, before realizing that the Fat Lady was in a picture further away fine. She nodded her head absentmindedly.

"Okay, well we're going to be whipping up some more sleeping draughts tonight. If anyone needs one, please tell them to come and take one. I'd probably need one if it was my dormitory." Percy nodded, and Mina grabbed his arm real quick before she lost his attention. "Have you happened to see your brothers by the way?"

"Which ones?" He asked, his voice with the slightest tone of humor to it.

"Oh, the twins. And Ginny too, actually."

He vaguely pointed in a direction, and Mina was off with Aidan trailing behind her as she shouted off a 'thanks'.

"There you guys are! Is everyone okay?" Mina asked as she eyed over the group, not quite switched out of nurse mode yet. Her eyes roamed over them as she noted that everyone in her extended friend group was there, even Hermione (and by extension Ron and Harry). She took in the various nods as she thought of her next words.

"Okay, well the hospital wing will have sleeping and calming draughts if anyone needs them." She took note as Aidan made his way over to Alicia to check on her. She watched the group interact for a moment before someone spoke behind her.

"So you were looking for us, huh?" Fred's cheeky smile made the situation seem like he was talking about a Hogsmeade trip rather than what actually had happened.

"What makes you say that?" Mina asked, not looking at him as she studied the group for any signs of trauma they hadn't mentioned.

"Well a relieved _'there you guys are'_ kinda gives it away," Fred said mimicking her exclamation from a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, we asked Percy. Aidan just about gave me a heart attack when he showed up at the hospital wing. With the way he sounded, I thought it might've been last year all over again," She looked at him now, looking him over for an injuries. She touched his arm, trying to get him to be honest about any injuries. "You're all alright, aren't you?"

Fred took in her intense gaze and the strong grip she had on his arm, and felt himself faintly blushing.

"Just peachy. No one got hurt, really."

"Okay but what about Ginny, or Hermione? Have they shown any signs of trauma? Because that could all be residual from -"

"-Hey, you can relax."

Her muscles tensed for a moment, before she took a deep breath. Fred had caught on to what was happening, and he could probably feel her hand shaking. She pulled her hand back to herself. She had to get a handle on her anxiety, this wasn't last year again. Yet, she could feel the cold feelings of despair just on the brink, the same way she did last year. She shook her head for a moment to get these thoughts away, before she realized Fred was watching her carefully. She flashed him a smile that was a little too bright, as she faked an emotion she wasn't feeling.

"Sorry about that, sometimes it's hard to switch out of nurse mode. If they do start to show any concerning signs send them to the hospital wing, please. I've got to get going, have to help Madam Pomfrey."

"Mina." She ignored him calling after her as she walked away calmly, fighting back all of her emotions.

She ducked into a passageway where she knew she'd be alone for a moment. She just had to get a handle on her emotions before she headed back to the Hospital Wing, because then she'd have to deal with everyone else. She closed her eyes, focused on breathing. And then, her emotions got a handle on her and she broke.

* * *

When Mina eventually made it back to the Hospital Wing her eyes were no longer red. A little swollen from the crying, but at least they weren't red. She could deal with puffy eyes.

She made calming draughts as Madam Pomfrey finished up some sleeping draughts. A few Gryffindor students had made their way here after the announcement of them sleeping in the Great Hall was given, but Mina assumed they were too proud to have more show up for a simple draught.

"Mina," Madam Pomfrey started quietly, not trying to gather the attention of others in the room. "Are you alright?"

"Mhm" she replied, not making eye contact.

"Mina," Madam Pomfrey's voice was a little harder as she pressed. "It's perfectly normal to have feelings from last year resurface. I know it's not the same thing, but in many cases-"

"- I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey. Really," she said as she flashed her a smile, "just a little unnerved that someone got into the castle and did this. I'll take a calming draught and I'll be fine." She kept eye contact with the older woman, waiting to see if she would press the issue any more or not. She sighed, letting it go.

"Alright. But if you change your mind, I'm an open ear." Mina nodded her head as Madam Pomfrey continued to look at her. "Mina, why don't you head back to your dormitory for the night? It's been a pretty exciting night for everyone, and I think some sleep would be good for everyone."

"Really?"

"Go ahead. I'll see you the day of the quidditch game."

"Oh, okay. Well, goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

She grabbed her things and headed back to her dorm, for a sleepless night.

* * *

Mina stifled a yawn as Aidan and Anne made their way down to the door to their dorms. She had swiped some concealer onto her eyes, in hopes that they wouldn't catch onto the fact that she hadn't gotten any sleep.

"So I've got a plan."

"Mina, it's too early for plans, food first," Anne whined.

"Actually food is apart of my plan," she stopped and looked at her friends. "We're going to eat breakfast at the Gryffindor table."

"What?" Aidan asked suddenly awake.

"You heard me. This is all apart of my master plan to get you and Alicia together."

"Now when did I ever say you could meddle with my love life?"

Mina shrugged and continued walking.

"More like you never said that I _couldn't_ meddle with your love life. Besides you guys are almost there, and we've got another Hogsmeade coming up. If you get close to her, you can ask her out to it."

"First off you said I couldn't meddle in yours, I assumed it was reciprocal. Second of all it's way too soon to ask her out, I've got no idea if she even likes me or not."

Anne made eye contact with Mina as she rolled her eyes.

"You're so blind. Anyways, I've already got Anne meddling in mine, so it's full. You could meddle in Anne's, if you want?"

"I could do with a good blind date, especially if it happens to be a Ravenclaw seeker who rhymes with Bamien."

Aidan took a deep breath, and Anne took it as he didn't get what she said.

"Get it? Cause Bae and Damien equals-"

"-Yeah I got it. ' _You're so blind'_ doesn't help me what does that even mean?"

Anne looked at Mina again.

"I could go for sitting at the Gryffindor table."

Mina turned to Aidan. "That's two votes, you've been outvoted."

"That's not fair there's two of you."

"Majority rules," Anne briefly turned to him as they made their way into the great hall with purpose.

Anne plopped down on the bench, as Mina sat down across from the twins. They looked to Aidan as there was enough room for him to sit next to Alicia. He carefully sat down, before timidly letting out a 'hi' to her.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be smart, you're at the wrong table," Angelina asked, and Mina chalked it up to her not being a morning person.

"People switch seats all the time. Anyways, we just wanted to check to make sure you're all okay after yesterday."

"We're fine, thanks mom," Lee said, poking fun at her playfully.

"Okay, okay. I'm just checking," she held her hands up in fake defense, and they exchanged a small smile.

Fred waited for everyone to pick up their conversations again, before talking to Mina.

"Hey."

"Hey," She replied, smiling sat him.

"Are _you_ okay after yesterday?" His eyes stared into her and she felt herself getting defensive.

"Spshhh, I'm fine. I'm just a little rattled someone would do that. Anyways, it's not even my dorm. I'm fine." He looked at her a little longer, trying to gauge if she was telling the truth or not when she changed the subject. She leaned forward and talked quieter. Fred had to lean in to hear her.

"Aidan's going to ask Alicia out this weekend."

"Really?" Fred couldn't help to say he was surprised, he thought he was a lot more shy than he apparently was.

Mina paused for a moment before clarifying.

"Well, that's the plan anyways. He could chicken out. If that happens I've got plan for it." Fred smiled at her.

"You sure have a lot of these plans don't you."

Mina smiled, before rolling her eyes.

"I have a lot of them because I'm the only one coming up with them."

Fred feigned insult.

"I have plans," Mina waved her hand for him to continue, her chin on her other hand ready to listen. "Okay, so get this. We get them in a hall for some reason, but a prefect is coming. They panic and have no other option but to kiss, and pretend they aren't out for another reason, so they don't get in trouble."

Mina laughed.

"Okay, that's such an overused thing in books and it never works out like that."

Fred leaned in further, and mimicked her earlier gesture of waving, and placed his chin in his hand.

"Well, first of all why would that be their go to option? And second, how would we convince them being in a hall for no reason would be a good idea?"

"Well, you didn't have to ruin my fun," Fred said, throwing her a fake pout. Mina laughed harder this time, and Fred smiled as she almost snorted.

Angie's eyes grew small as she watched Mina flirting with Fred, who was obviously just humoring her to be nice. She just couldn't get the hint that he didn't like her, could she?

Well, Angie could help her figure it out. She certainly could.

* * *

Mina ran to Hermione and Ginny before they could run off after breakfast.

"Hey!"

Ginny turned and smiled brightly. Hermione looked a little frazzled, but Mina assumed it was just because of course overload.

"Hey Mina, what's up?" Ginny said, not eager to make her way to potions class, stalling for time.

"Just wanted to check in on both of you, make sure you're both fine after yesterday?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other for a moment before answering.

"I'm fine, I don't think anyone was hurt."

"No, that's not what I meant," Mina took a breath. "It's perfectly normal in cases like this for something to trigger a past trauma and make someone relive it. I want to make sure you guy's are doing fine after last year?"

"I'm fine, honest," Ginny said.

Hermione nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you? Are you okay?" Hermione prodded. Both girls looked at Mina waiting for her to answer. She shot them both a smile.

"I'm fine, honestly. It wasn't even my dorm. I was a little freaked out that someone made it into the castle to do this yesterday, but now I'm fine."

Ginny nodded, but Hermione looked at Mina a little longer, before she decided to let it go.

"Okay, but if something changes let's agree to talk to each other about it."

"Of course, thats a great idea," Ginny answered honestly.

"Yeah," Mina lied like a liar.

"Great. Listen, I've got to run if I'm to make class, but I'll catch up with you guys later," Hermione said apologetically, already physically moving to class.

"See you later!" Mina called after her, before turning to Ginny. "Alright, now what's this about your crush?"

"Spshhhhh," Ginny dragged out, nervous and blushing. "Like you know who I've got a crush on?"

Mina raised an eyebrow at her, before opening her mouth, but Ginny cut her off.

"Listen, Mina, I've really got to go to potions. We can talk later bye!" Ginny all but ran from the conversation.


	13. Chapter 13

"You lost me again," Mina frowned, dropping her parchment on the ground to rub her forehead where a headache was forming.

"You lost me a long time ago," Fred seconded.

George groaned loudly.

"You two are the worst at herbology," he looked to Anne. "How do you help her?"

Anne looked up from her book.

"It's not easy," She dodged a book from Mina.

"Don't be rude, remember I help you out with transfiguration."

"You do, and I'm very grateful for it, but you take a while to pick up on it. It's not that hard to remember certain plants," Anne said as she dodged another book from Mina.

"Nope, that's where I disagree with you. It's very hard," Fred butted in, having long discarded his book instead for a parchment on product ideas.

Mina nodded vehemently.

"See, someone who gets me. You guys are just weird."

George scoffed.

"Yeah, we're weird. You guys actually like transfiguration, but whatever," Anne piped up, earning a high five from George.

"Let's just take a break for a bit, then we can get back to it," George added, trying not to completely discourage them.

"Great!" Mina said, throwing her book to the ground, and leant back onto the ground to enjoy the slightly chilly weather by the lake.

Anne and George talked nonsense about Herbology, and eventually Mina sat up.

She looked quietly over at Fred who was in deep concentration.

"Whatcha doing?"

Fred jumped, but then leant into her to show her.

"I'm working on a product but I can't get it right. Somethings off about this last stage," Mina took it as he rested back on his hands watching her look over it.

"Well, I'd be happy to help you with it later. I can't tell what's wrong right now, but I'm sure if we cracked open some books we could do it?"

Fred smiled.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Great, we can hash out whatever later," she said laying back down onto the ground, watching the clouds. Fred took a moment before following her lead.

"That one's an owl," he pointed, and Mina looked to where he was pointing. She snorted.

"Yeah, right. That's not an owl."

"No really it is," he scooted over to her until his arm was pressed against hers, and pointed. "Theres the beak, and the wings, and the little feet."

Mina laughed again.

"I've no idea what type of owls you've seen, but that's a stretch."

Fred gasses and put a hand to his chest. "Miss Donnelly, I am appalled that you would think I would lie to you. This owl happens to represent the Weasley family owl. Tell her, George."

George looked up for a moment confused. "What?"

Fred pointed up at the cloud.

"Oh, yeah. That kinda looks like Errol, doesn't it?" Fred turned back to Mina a cheeky grin on his face.

"Now your pulling my leg."

"No, Errol's been in the family for ages. It's a wonder how he even delivers mail," George replied, not looking up from his herbology book.

Fred nudged Mina's arm.

"You're turn."

"Okay," Mina thought for a moment, before lifting up her arm. "That looks like a butterbeer."

Fred leaned over closer to her head to see where she was pointing, before he replied.

"Huh, it does." He sat thinking for a moment. "That kind one of looks like - Angie?"

Mina sat up after seeing Angelina hovering over them.

"Hey, Angie. What's up?" she smiled brightly at her, happy to see the other girl.

"What are you guys up to?"

"We're just taking a break from studying for a moment," Fred said, nonchalantly pointing at his book which was sitting over by George, untouched.

"Yeah, otherwise that Herbology test is going to kick my butt," Mina added in.

Angie took a moment, deciding on what her next move was.

"Mina, you're great at herbology. What are you talking about?"

"Really?" George and Mina asked at the same time, the same tone of skepticism in their voices.

"Angie, we're in the same herbology class," Mina said like it explained everything. (Which in Mina's defense: it really did. A person could only break however many flower pots in a year, before being told not to touch them.)

"Nonsense. You guys mind if I crash with you anyways?"

"Sure, go for it," Anne waived, not quite looking up from her essay.

Angelina smiled. She shoved her way in between Fred and Mina, placing her bag between Mina and herself.

Mina scooted over to create more room, and reached for her book.

"Okay George, walk me through it one more time."

George groaned, but pulled out a piece of parchment to draw a diagram on in hopes that it worked.

* * *

Mina wasn't confident in how she did, but she didn't think she failed, which was always positive. She groaned as she walked with Aidan.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"I'm pretty sure I said gillyweed was for healing. I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong."

Aidan did his best to hide his smile.

"Yeah, uh, okay. Maybe it was bad. But I'm sure you passed at least."

Mina rolled her eyes as they rounded the corner. "Thanks for your unwavering confidence, Aidan."

"No problem."

She looked down the hall and saw Alicia, Fred, and Angelina talking. She nudged Aidan.

"Now's your chance, go ask her out."

His eyes widened as they stopped walking.

"Oh no, Mina, I can't. When I'm with her my thoughts just get all jumbled, and I can't think straight. I'd completely botch it."

She looked him over, before handing him the book she was carrying. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment.

"I'll be right back."

"Wait, Mina. No! Come back here!" Aidan said as he leaned against the wall, trying to disappear.

Mina approached the group carefully.

"Hey, sorry about interrupting," everyone looked at Mina for a moment, as she took a breath to gather her words. "Um, Alicia, you know Aidan, right?" She turned around to where Aidan was hiding behind her book, rapidly growing darker shades of red. Mina waved to him before she continued. "Hi Aidan." She turned back to Alicia. "Anyways, turns out he's got a thing for you, but totally can't come talk to you about it, because you know us Ravenclaw's aren't known for our bravery-" she said as she picked up her tie, emphasizing the 'Ravenclaw' and Fred smiled at her rambling, "-Anyways, he was wondering if you'd want to go to Hogsmeade with him this weekend? If not, we can all forget this whole thing happened."

Alicia smiled brightly.

"Of course I'll go with him."

"Great! Why don't you go over there and confirm details with him," Mina said, already pushing her towards Aidan.

Aidan was certain he was going to die of embarrassment.

Alicia pulled his book away from his face.

"Hi."

"Hi," he answered back, already starting to feel his ability to form long sentences gone.

"So, we have a date to plan for this weekend," Alicia said, smiling at him softly.

"We do?"

Alicia laughed.

"Of course we do. I've been dropping hints for months. I'm kinda glad Mina stepped in, otherwise we'd be here until next year."

Aidan's gaze went to Mina as she flashed him a thumbs up. He chose to ignore Angelina and Fred's cheeky smiles.

"I thought you only liked me as a friend?"

"If that's how you treat your friends, I might just get a little jealous," Alicia nudged his arm with her, poking fun at him. He shook his head.

"No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was, I didn't thing that you liked me."

"Well, I'm right here, aren't I? Anyways, we have a date to plan. C'mon." She smiled before walking off.

He looked at her before looking at his friends. He chased after her as they waved him away. Maybe it wasn't so bad having Mina meddle in his love life?

* * *

 **I've had that one scene with Mina and Aidan planned since before I even knew I was going to be writing another story. It's so early in my notes that Aidan goes by another name. (I called him Ben, and I'm not why I didn't keep the name, but it's too late to go back now.)**

 **Anyways, hope you liked it, I know it's made me very happy.**

 **Also, I know this one's kinda short I've been busy this week, but I'll try to make next weeks update a little bigger.**


	14. Chapter 14

Mina watched as McGonagall walked around the room, before her eyes darted back to Fred.

He had pushed the assignment off to the side, and while part of her was worried about the grade they would get if he didn't help, another part of her was watching him scribble on the parchment furiously. He had crossed out about half of the sheet, and was currently working through another solution to one of his products. What he didn't notice is that it wouldn't work this time either, and it was driving Mina insane. She spared McGonagall another glance who was on the other side of the room, and leaned in with the project assigned to them in hand.

"You got it wrong again," she whispered out, pointing to the assignment page as cover.

Fred looked up confused.

Mina scooted her chair over and leant in, still whispering. "You might as well pretend to work on the assignment, you know."

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced over to the front of the class where McGonagall was sitting.

"I know, it's just driving me crazy. I'm almost there."

"No you're not."

His eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Mina sighed and took his quill from him, pointing at the parchment he was writing on.

"Look, this bit we learned last week. It's for a completely different transfiguration, unless you're trying to turn a cat into a candlestick, it's not going to work." She bit her lip for a moment thinking. "Now, if you were to take the spell from last month, that might work."

Fred shook his head.

"Already tried that, it's way too reactive," he whispered back, pointing higher on the paper.

"Huh."

"What about chapter twelve in the book?" he started, thinking he was onto something, but Mina was already shaking her head at this.

"That won't do it, not reactive enough."

They whispered back and forth for a few moments before they heard a voice being cleared. They both shyly looked at McGonagall who was standing in front of them.

"I trust we're working on the assignment?"

"Yep, just reading ahead to see if any of that applies to it as well. We want to be make sure we get it all," Mina nervously let out, not comfortable lying to McGonagall. Fred looked at her with a look of confusion for a moment, as McGonagall looked back and forth between the two of them.

"While I'm sure you'll find some interesting stuff that might be applied in further chapters, I advise the both of you to stick to the assigned chapter. And I'd like to see you both after class." She walked away and Fred whispered to Mina.

"You should've let me take the blame."

Mina shrugged.

"You weren't the only one at fault, I also got distracted, if you don't remember."

Fred felt bad that he had gotten Mina in trouble, even if she said it was also her fault. He was the one working on it in class after all. But another part of him felt glad she was in whatever with him as well.

He shot her a cheeky smile.

"We may make a troublemaker out of you yet."

* * *

"You've done it wrong," Jae complained as Anne plopped some of... whatever into the potion.

"Look, it either works or it doesn't. There's no harm in it, just let it happen."

Jae looked at Anne for a frazzled moment as she tried to restrain herself. She had long rolled her own sleeves up sloppily, and she was sure her hair was all over the place. Anne, however was leaning back in her chair casually and was not fazed at all.

"You might not care, but I need this class."

Anne tilted her head, and leaned it onto her hand.

"I do care about this class. What's your fuss about it?"

Jae froze for a moment, realizing she let too much slip, before she carried on with fixing the potion.

"I'm not fussing. I just want to be able to get a good job, and I can't do that with lousy scores."

Anne studied her for a moment, watching her overly careful movements.

"Yeah, okay. I don't quite believe that."

"What?" Jae asked, shocked that someone wouldn't take her for her word.

"You heard me. Oh, don't put that in, too much is deadly," she grabbed the plant from her hand, instead tossing in a handful of something else.

Jae huffed.

"That wasn't even in the recipe, what are you doing?"

"Just trust me on it. Now do you want to tell me what you actually meant by that or not?"

"I meant what I said, now leave it alone," she said as she smacked her hands, both talking about the subject and the potion that was now changing colors.

"Well, if that was the case why not just have mommy and daddy get you a job after Hogwarts?" Jae glared at Anne for a moment, before Anne spoke again. "Wait, I forgot we were trying to be civil. Let me rephrase that. You're parents are well enough off and in high positions, one good word from them and your set."

"I don't want to rely on their word, I want to get it on my own."

Anne sat for a moment just watching Jae. Something was still off.

"You're still not telling me something, but I'll leave it for now."

They worked in silence for a bit, both trying to get the other to listen to how they were doing the potion. Snape came by to evaluate it and Jae was sweating bullets.

"It's... acceptable. Twenty points to Slytherin. Ten to Ravenclaw."

Anne turned to Jae.

"You hear that? It was acceptable, sounds like a victory to me."

Jae scoffed.

"More like not good enough, but not worth the effort of failing."

Anne slung her bag onto her shoulder.

"Nah, he's just harsh. You're overthinking it."

"And you're under thinking it."

"Look, you can argue with me about this, or we can go watch a quidditch game."

Jae thought for a moment.

"Yeah, okay, quidditch."

That's what I thought, C'mon."

They walked on and Jae elbowed Anne as they bickered their way over to the quidditch fields.

* * *

"You are so lucky McGonagall likes me," Mina teased Fred as they left the classroom late. They had gotten off with just a warning this time. "Or that she likes that you're playing today. One of the two."

Fred laughed.

"Probably a mix of the two. That was gutsy of you, we could've been in detention until we were old and wrinkly."

It was Mina's turn to laugh.

"Yeah, right. I doubt McGonagall's ever given anyone that much detention, let alone for not doing classwork."

Fred tutted.

"You say that, but that's what they say happened to poor old Peeves." This prompted an elbow to hit him. "Ow, don't damage Gryffindor property until after the game or Oliver Wood will have your head."

"Okay, got it. But you've got a right beating coming for you after the game."

"Oh yeah? I could take you."

He struck an overexagerated fighting pose. Mina jumped to copy him. They both dodged and weaved trying to avoid the others hits. Fred's hand grazed her side, and she let out a high pitch squeak. He paused, before his grin grew and now Mina was dodging Fred's hands like her life depended on it. He caught onto her and began tickling her waist. Mina was furiously swatting his hands away as she let out giggles. They froze as they heard someone clear their throat.

Angelina took in the situation before brushing it off, deciding there wasn't enough time to deal with it.

"Oliver wants everyone ready in five minutes. Meet by the locker rooms."

She turned and left.

A moment passed and they both seemed to realize how close they were, and that Fred's hands sat frozen on her waist as Angela talked. They back away from each other nervously chuckling.

"Well, that's my queue to leave. Root for me, will you?"

Mina nodded, and then Fred left.

She paused for a second, before she shook her head. She didn't have time for... well, whatever that was. She had to go find Madam Pomfrey to make sure any injuries were either prevented or fixed for the game.

* * *

Mina hung back as the Gryffindor team surrounded Harry in the hospital wing. He really didn't deserve all the bad he got, and for the death eater to just go after him like that? Dumbledore should be furious.

She watched as Ron and Hermione stayed behind as the team gave him room. Mina pulled Fred off to the side.

"How's he holding up?"

"Upset we lost. Even more upset about the broom."

Mina crossed her arms.

"Poor kid. He doesn't deserve any of this, he's already been through enough trouble for a lifetime."

Fred nodded.

"We can only hope that this is it, but I'm not sure. He seems to attract trouble."

Mina hummed for a minute, before turning back to Fred.

"Oh!"

"Oh?" He teasingly repeated. Mina ignored this.

"You did good today, that one move you and George pulled off was good."

"You don't need to sound shocked."

"Not shocked, impressed," Fred raised an eyebrow for a second at the compliment. "You guys should teach it to me sometime," she added timidly.

"You want me to show you my moves, eh?"

Mina stifled a laugh, before walking with him out of the hospital wing.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"Or do I, Miss Donnelly? It's pretty hard to resist my charm after all." Mina raised an eyebrow at this, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Pretty resistible to me."

Fred feigned a serious look, and pointed at her.

"That's what they always think, but before you know it you'll be swooning at my feet."

Mina couldn't help her laugh.

"Alright sure, if that's what helps you sleep at night."


	15. Chapter 15

Aidan wrung his hands nervously.

 _It's not as if I've never been on a date before_ , he thought to himself. But then again... this time it felt different somehow. His stomach was jittery and very little would calm him down.

Alicia smiled at him and his whole body danced. He smiled back, hoping to get the feeling across.

They walked into Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, and immediately their noses were assaulted by heavy perfume. They gave each other a look, before securing a table.

From the window, it was hard to see what was happening, and it made it even harder to hear.

"I can't believe they're going on a date here?" Fred exclaimed loudly, disregarding the weird looks people in the street gave him. Mina shushed him, trying to watch.

"For some girls it's the epitome of what they want."

"Well, you have to admit it would be easier to go in there and get a table to find out what they're doing."

Mina glared at Fred fiercely.

"Fred Weasley, I would sooner die than go in there again."

Fred's eyebrows shot up his forehead.

"Again?"

"First year we were allowed at Hogsmeade, Anne dragged me in there. I swear I've just managed to get rid of the smell of that perfume, I'm not going back in there."

"Alright, alright. We don't have to go in there," He held his arms up defensively. "So do we know what their plans are, or are we just going to follow them around this entire time?"

"I've got no idea what they've got planned. But I figure, if we just follow them around and just happen to bump into them when it gets rough for them it should be good."

Mina sat down and started digging through her bag. Fred looked at her curiously, before glancing around to keep an eye around them. He thought he saw Ron and Hermione, but his eye quickly went back to Mina as she let out a small 'ah'.

She pulled out two pieces of candy, and nonchalantly offered one to him.

He watched her for a moment before taking it. She looked at the people passing by as she ate, so he turned and did the same.

Anne could not believe what she was hearing.

"What do you mean you've never had a butter beer?"

Jae looked back at her confused.

"I just haven't, it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal!" Anne shouted, and Jae frantically tried to shush her. "Of course it's a big deal," she continued quieter.

Anne grabbed onto Jae's arm and dragged her through the crowd.

Jae was not excited to be dragged to places she didn't know, but she suspected she knew where she was being taken. Sure enough, they emerged through the crowd and before she could take a moment to breath, she was being pulled through the door.

"I can't believe you've never had butter beer. C'mon, your first one's on me."

* * *

Aidan tried his best to stifle his laughter.

Alicia pulled another face as the couple next to them said cheesy, overly romantic things to each other.

He wasn't sure what she wanted when she had originally said they should go here, but he had to admit, the way she treated the environment made it a lot better than he was expecting.

"So how long do you think Fred and Mina plan on sitting out there thinking we can't see them?" She asked.

A look to the window showed only their heads as they were sitting on the ground against the window.

"I think they plan on following us this entire trip?"

"Oh?" Alicia asked, a smile playing on her lips. "So it's kinda like we got them on a date then?"

He sat and thought for a second.

"I guess, but I think if they ever go on a date, it should be better than them just following us around."

Alicia shrugged.

"They look like they're having fun to me."

He looked back to the window, and sure enough, Mina was laughing at something Fred had said.

"They do." He stared for another moment before turning back to Alicia as she gasped.

"We should set them up."

"What?"

Alicia gave him a look.

"You know what I mean, I think they've got some chemistry there."

He put his hands up.

"Oh no, I've been strictly told to stay out of Mina's love life. The position of meddling there is already filled by Anne."

"Okay, so then _you_ don't meddle."

Alicia smiled at him for a second, before Aidan shook his head.

"We shouldn't mess around in their love lives, someone could get seriously hurt."

"I'm not saying we mess. But, if we nudge them along if we see them going towards each other, whats the harm? It's not _really_ meddling then."

Aidan looked back at the window.

"Alright, you got me. But only nudging."

* * *

Jae let out a small laugh as Anne had foam on her mouth.

"What? What is it?"

"You've got butter beer all over your face."

Anne grabbed a napkin, before she dotted her face, completely missing where it was.

Jae shook her head.

"You're hopeless," she said grabbing the napkin, before wiping it away. She put the napkin down before turning back to her own butter beer.

"You were right, this is pretty good."

"I know, I can't believe you've _never_ had it before."

"Well, there's always a first for everything," she said, looking at Anne.

Anne nodded her head thoughtfully for a minute.

"Ill cheers to that."

* * *

"I can't believe you did that!" Fred laughed to himself.

"It was our first year, I didn't know much about magic to begin with! Besides I didn't mean to give her a sleeping draught, it was supposed to make her less tired."

Fred laughed even harder.

"Snape was prepared to chew me out when he found out, but Madam Pomfrey said it was the best sleeping draught she's ever seen in a while, and the fact I was a first year made it more impressive. She told Snape I'd serve my detention in the hospital wing, and as far as he's concerned I'm still doing that."

"Which worked out pretty well for you, huh?"

Mina nodded her head.

"Yeah it did, we get along well enough and she's happy to tech someone who's eager to learn."

They sat in silence for a moment, before Mina dug through her bag again, this time pulling out two lollies. She didn't even look as she handed him the second one. He took it without question, and they sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes.

Mina titled her head to the side.

"I thought Harry couldn't go to Hogsmeade, but I could've sworn I just saw him," she scanned the crowd for a moment. "Maybe I'm seeing things, because I can't see him now. Wait there's Hermione and Ron... and some footprints in the snow walking with them?"

Fred looked at her for a moment.

"Well, I very well can't have you think your going mad," he said before explaining the situation to the best of his ability.

* * *

 ** _Sorry this is so short but I've been so busy this week! I'll try to make it up next week!_**


	16. Chapter 16

Mina wouldn't say she felt nervous, but she'd be lying to say that she wasn't. She wasn't sure if it was the fact she had a quidditch game today, or if the weather was just getting to her. Either way, she felt as if she were just going through the motions of the day, like she was stuck in jello.

She could only manage to muster up a smile to Fred as he wished her good luck, she felt like she'd get sick if she opened her mouth.

As usual for game days, she plopped next to Damien at the table, letting out a loud huff as she landed.

"That bad, huh?"

Mina gave him a sour look, still not feeling right.

"Me too. I'm not sure what, but I've got a bad feeling about today. Moreso than I normally do when we go up against Slytherin. Something just feels... bad."

"Way to cheer me up," Mina mumbled, before taking a small sip of her water.

Damien gave her a bland look.

"Look, I could tell you it was all going to be fine today, but we'd both know I was lying. Somethings off today, and Im not sure what it is."

Mina set her glass down.

"I'm not disagreeing with you. I know this is going to make me sound a bit like Madam Trelawney, but it feels like there's been nothing but bad omens today." Damien waved her on for her to continue. "Well, this morning I was almost set on fire in my own dorm, and in history of magic someone managed to spill black ink all over me. Not just that, but the plants in herbology reacted worse than normal too me. I dunno though, I could just be overthinking this."

"Well, I'm not going to say one thing either way, but it does sound like a bad sign to me."

Mina nudged him halfheartedly.

"Yeah but you actually believe in all that omen stuff."

He sent her a serious look.

"You don't have to believe in it, to take the warning. Mina, it's better to be safe than sorry, isn't it?"

They sat quietly for a moment, trying to get as much time as possible before Davies called them to go get changed.

 _Better to be safe than sorry._

Maybe she was just being paranoid.

* * *

The weather had only gotten worse after they had changed.

That hadn't deterred the crowd either way, but it didn't do much to ease Mina's nerves. She couldn't remember the last time she had been nervous for one of her games, and yet her she was. Feeling as if she would be sick. Like she might just fall off her broom the second she got on it.

She shook her head.

That was no way to think. She had to focus, and be in the zone.

She wearily sent Damien a look, before lifting her head up. Better to fake confidence, then she might feel it. She gave him a serious nod, before lowering her goggles onto her face so she might be able to see something out in the ran.

And then, she walked out onto the pitch.

* * *

One particular spot in the Ravenclaw stands had never looked so colorful before.

Fred stood next to Aidan in his Gryffindor attire, but he enthusiastically waved a Ravenclaw flag. On the other side of Aidan was Anne, who hadn't stopped screaming in support of Mina from the second she had walked out onto the pitch. And beside her stood a slightly uncomfortable Slytherin.

Jae wasn't sure why she was here supporting Mina instead of her own team, but she had to admit, she didn't really like anyone on her team to begin with. She leaned over for Anne to hear her.

"She doesn't look like she feels good."

Anne gave her a funny look.

"What are you talking about? She looks like she normally does for a game?"

Jae shook her head, not sure if she was just paranoid or if she was actually picking up on something.

"Maybe so, I just have a weird feeling."

Anne waved her off.

"She'll be fine, but I'm sure knowing you felt some concern for her will put you good in her books."

Jae wanted to say she didn't quite care what Mina thought, as long as Anne had a good opinion on her, but before she could get the courage to the teams were off.

* * *

Mina had slowly managed to calm down. She was just starting to get into the swing of things. But then that annoying blond Slytherin kid came into view, and then she no longer could feel her broom.

The feeling of falling engulfed her, and things went quiet around her.

The rain faded out into nothing, Lee Jordan was shouting about something but she couldn't focus on what. All she could hear was the pounding in her ears.

Her stomach was the first thing she felt. Then the air whizzing past her. The rain on her skin. She looked frantically around for her broom before she had found it. It was below her, slowly plummeting to the ground. She held out her shaking hand, praying to whoever would listen that she could grab it.

One hundred feet. That's how much was left before she became a Mina pancake. She didn't notice the tears starting to blur her vision, or her breathing that was picking up. All that mattered was her broom. She was enough aware to know that the game had stopped as she was falling. Everyone watched, fully knowing they wouldn't be able to reach her in time. She couldn't blame anyone for not trying. She knew the shock would've held her in place if she were anyone else.

Seventy five feet. Upon some reflection, maybe she should have eaten lunch.

While this is not something that normally passes through someones mind as they fall, Mina had already made her way through her goodbyes at around ninety feet and her stomach was angry to not have tasted anything for it's last meal. If she lived through this, she was going to go to Honeydukes and splurge. But that would mean surviving, which would mean grabbing her broom, and while she was getting closer, or rather falling closer, she wasn't sure she was going to make it.

Fifty feet. It wasn't fair. She still had time to be a teenager, and to get it taken from her like this? She knew most people's emotions flitted through everything when they almost died, but this was ridiculous. She would've scoffed at herself. But, she had a point. She still had friends. She had a career planned. Damnit, she wanted to do the whole dating thing. It just wasn't fair. She wanted to cry, but she failed to realize she still was.

Twenty five feet.

Things almost seemed peaceful this close to the ground.

She had completely blocked everyone else out now. She could see her broom, so close and yet so far.

She took and breath and extended her arm, for maybe the last time.

She reached her arm out and hoped.

And grabbed onto her broom just barely. She hadn't realized how close she had been, but she had been able to grab onto her broom before she was almost tripping over herself on the ground. Well, almost would say that she hadn't fallen to the ground the second her feet had touched it, and that's exactly what she did.

She layed crouched on the ground, for a moment before someone was next to her.

She looked and saw a blurry Damien next to her.

She tried to choke back a sob as she saw him, but failed. She pulled him into a hug quickly, thankful for anything other than the feeling of falling.

"Mina, thank Merlin. I tried going after you, but I wouldn't have made it."

She was faintly aware of Madam Hooch calling a time out, but she didn't care. She buried her face deeper into Damien.

"I thought I was going to die, I think I need a minute."

"Merlin, just a minute? This entire game might be cancelled and I'd say good riddance."

She looked up at him for the first time since she thought she was going to die.

"We need this game."

Damien looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Are you crazy? You could've died?"

Mina shook her head. She was a little woozy, but she didn't want to cause a huge scene.

"Yeah, but if we don't play we lose all shots at the house cup this year," she looked into his eyes pleading with him. "If Madam Hooch asks, tell her I seem fine. We have no replacement for me right now. I can deal with whatever trauma later in the form of a sleeping draught in the hospital wing, but right now we need to finish this, you hear me?"

He eyed her for a moment carefully.

Madam Hooch came over, trying to assess if someone needed to be sent to the hospital wing.

"I'm fine Madam Hooch, really. Ask Damien, I had it all planned out?"

They both turned to him.

His gaze lingered on Mina for a moment, before fake smile was thrown onto his face.

"Yeah, she just tripped over her feet as she landed. You know how clumsy Mina can be."

And so they were back in the air with the sound of a whistle.

* * *

Mina sat in the uncomfortable bed in silence.

The hospital wing was unusually empty. She wasn't sure if it was because Mina had practically begged Madam Pomfrey to not let her see anyone, or if the older woman had thought she was due to have a breakdown at some point.

She leant her head against the wall and thought. She probably wouldn't be too off, she could use a good long cry.

She closed her eyes, trying to push the memory from her mind.

Mina opened her eyes as someone sat next to her quietly. Next to her sat a very worried, and yet somewhat sheepish Fred Weasley. She wasn't sure if she should go hunt Madam Pomfrey down later or not. Her tutor probably thought she could use someone to talk to.

Mina let out a fake smile.

"What are you doing here?"

Fred gave her a concerned look.

"What am I doing here? You could've died today. I was the only one that Madam Pomfrey let slip in, and someone has to make sure you're still together." So she had let someone in on purpose. Mina wasn't sure what she was up to, but she could press her on it later when she wasn't exhausted.

She scooted over and patted on the bed next to her, which she knew was going to be more comfortable than the hard chair. He climbed next to her gingerly, like she would break. She rested her head back against the wall as they sat in silence for a moment.

"You can talk about it if you want," Fred said, in a tone that was full of too many emotion for Mina's tired brain to pick out.

"What's there _to_ talk about?" she asked, a little harsher than she meant. But she had opened her mouth, and now words were starting to pour out. "That I almost died today? I know that. Do you know how fast it takes to say goodbye mentally to everyone you know? It was a lot quicker than I thought it would be. I was ready for it to happen," Her eyes welled with tears, but she tried to keep them from spilling.

"Fred, I thought I was going to _die,_ " She said again, and this time the tears came.

Fred pulled her into a hug quickly and kept her there as she sobbed. He ran his hands through her hair in a motion that she thought was comforting.

His heart broke, but he knew he should let her let it out. He couldn't imagine what it was like to go through what she did. and knowing she had bundled her emotions up and had _gone back to playing?_ It drove him crazy that she felt like she had to do that. _Like she wasn't important_.

It took a while before he realized that she had fallen asleep on him. He sat there in silence.

If it came down to it again, he decided, he'd do anything he could to protect her. Just hearing her talk about being ready to die almost drove a stake through his heart.

He watched nothing in particular in the dark hospital wing as he brushed her hair absentmindedly.

He heard someone quietly clear their throat, which made him look to his left.

"You know she's been through a lot," Madam Pomfrey said softly. He looked down to her to make sure she was still asleep before he spoke.

"I'd be stupid to not notice the after today."

"I'm not just talking about today. Things tend to weigh on a persons conscious, even if they pretend to not notice it. Things that no person should go through alone," her eyes twinkled a little as she spoke, but her mouth was in such a fine line Fred knew she'd never bee homer serious before.

"She's not alone," Fred said looking back to Mina. He glanced back at Madam Pomfrey. "I'll make sure she never feels alone."

Madam Pomfrey let out a small smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. Keep that in your heart and speak it into existence," Fred looked at her curiously for a moment, trying to figure out what that meant before she continued. "I'm not one for young love, but I do know a good match when I see one. Keep her close, and you'll continue to support one another."

She walked off before he had a chance to say anything else.

He rested his head against Mina's and closed his eyes to think about what Madam Pomfrey had said.

* * *

The beds in the hospital wing were both a lot harder and a lot warmer than Mina remembered.

She buried further into her blanket for a moment, before thinking on it.

She froze.

 _Please, please just be a new bed and soft blanket. Don't be who I think it is._ But the universe was cruel and was out to get Mina, because when she had opened her eyes, a sleeping Weasley was next to her.

She took in his appearance.

He looked remarkably calm, and unmischievous. In fact she had a hard time remembering if she had ever seen his face without a little bit of scheming on it. It pulled on her heart strings a little, although she wasn't quiet able to pin point why.

She could see his hair sitting just barely in his eyes, and she was filled with the desire to brush it out of his face. Maybe to also just touch his face. She wasn't sure why though.

However, she was thankful she didn't when his eyes fluttered open a moment later. He looked around confused for a moment before they landed on Mina. She was sure her face was the color of his hair.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she mimicked. "Sorry about falling asleep on you, I guess I was just exhausted after..." she drifted off. "Anyways, I was just trying to figure out how to slip away without waking you up, but I guess you beat me to it."

A lazy smile found it's way onto his lips, and she wasn't sure if the heart flutter she felt was a side effect of yesterday or something else.

"Trying to sneak off in the night I see," he said, trying to waggle his eyebrows.

Mina quirked an eyebrow at him.

"The suns just starting to come up, so I'm not sure if that applies."

They sat for a moment, before Mina realized she was still laying on him. She sheepishly pulled away from him, but immediately felt the warmth leave her as she did. She sat up, and looked around for her shoes and stuff... just away from him, for no reason in particular.

"Thanks for coming yesterday, I guess I did need to just, vent to someone."

He sat up, and stretched. Mina hurried herself with putting her shoes on, though she was fumbling more than she usually was.

"No problem anytime."

"I should get going, Anne and everyone else is probably freaked over yesterday, and the longer I stay in here will only add to that."

He nodded his head, pulling his own shoes on.

She stood up, and he copied her.

She stopped in front of him, feeling like she needed to say more, but was at a loss of words.

Mina smiled dumbly at him once more.

"Thanks again," she mumbled before she ran out.

* * *

Anne was the only one in her dorm, as the other girls had partied the night away and Mina had stayed in the hospital wing overnight. So when the door slammed, she woke up quick to see Mina looking around the room frantically, before her eyes landed on Anne.

"I think something just happened."


	17. Chapter 17

"Mina, that doesn't really mean anything. I honestly think he was just being a good friend. I would've gone down to the hospital wing and been down there all night with you if Madam Pomfrey hadn't waved me away," Anne said.

Mina thought.

Maybe she was just overthinking it? After all nothing had happened.

And as for how she felt... well, she wasn't sure how she felt. But, Anne had a point, traumatic experiences will do that to a person. It'd be terrible to act on something that might not be how she really felt. She hadn't thought of Fred in a romantic way at all, and he consoles her one night and suddenly she maybe has a crush on him.

She shook her head.

"Yeah, you're right. That makes sense. I'm just all twisted around from last night anyways," Anne hummed in agreement. Mina looked at her for a moment before a cheeky grin made it's way onto her face. "Now, you and Jae on the other hand?"

Anne sat lazily on her bed, but her red hair showed that she jerked her head at the question.

"Me and Jae? Spshhhhh... Weren't we just talking about you and Fred? Let's go back to that?" Mina smiled more, and then threw a pillow at Anne.

"I wasn't going to say anything bad. For all that you guys used to dislike each other, I think you'd make a good, cute couple. Power couple of Hogwarts, honestly."

Anne was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"You really think so?"

"Of course. I can tell you guys are happy around each other, and if that means I have to share my best friend a little more, then so be it," Mina paused, before poking fun at her friend. "And of course you two would be the power couple of Hogwarts, it's just a matter of who will stop you two from intimidating the First years."

A snort told Mina that Anne had been holding back a laugh. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Anne broke it.

"I know you don't like him, but I think you and Fred would be good together. I'm not saying you should hop into anything now, because clearly your emotionally unstable after yesterday. But, I think if you were to think it later on, you two could make each other very happy."

"I will be sure to keep that in mind," Mina chimed in, a playful lilt to her voice.

"You certainly will Miss Donnelly, because your very best friend said it and why would you forget anything I've said."

Anne's rhetorical question was answered by another pillow being thrown at her.

* * *

Mina would be lying if she were to say she was ready for practice.

It had been a week since her game, but she knew her hesitation was valid. But when Davies had told her she could sit out of practice? Well, she put her big girl pants on and said 'like hell I will, Davies'.

So she rolled out onto the quidditch pitch bright and early with the rest of her team. And the Gryffindor team. And _him_.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she felt so weird round Fred. Maybe because for a split second she had thought she that she maybe could have possibly had a small crush on him. But now she knew that that definitely wasn't the case, what was up with her? Well, it was still kind of weird for her because for that split second, she had convinced herself that she was right, and it's hard to look a friend in the eye after knowing, however small of a time, at some point you told yourself you had a thing for them. No matter if she was still hysterical when she thought it or not.

She smiled at him nonetheless, laughed at his jokes, but it was always there under the surface of her thoughts. Until Davies told both teams to line up, they were going to have a race. Then her brain was solely on winning.

"Spsh," she heard. She turned to Fred and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you say about a friendly wager?"

"Oh? What were you thinking of?"

Fred's grin grew mischievous, and he made a show a stretching when Oliver gave him a look.

"Glad you asked. What about, whoever of us wins, the other has to announce to both of the teams that they're the better quidditch player," he said, and Mina thought for a moment, before she realized she was too competitive to reject the offer.

"Alright, you're on. Although, I have to warn you, if you start crying at how much I beat you by, I have no tissues on me for you to use."

Fred snorted.

"Mina, you are sadly mistaken. I have the best running capabilities Gryffindor has ever seen, tell her George," he smacked his brother lightly, who hadn't been paying attention.

"What are you on about now?"

"I'm the best runner in Gryffindor, tell Mina," Fred chirped, expecting his brother to help him out.

George looked at him for a moment, before looking at Mina.

"I have no idea what he's talking about, he's not even the best runner in the Weasley house," he said, avoiding his twin's arms as they came for him.

"Would you like to test that out? I'm sure I could catch you, faster than you could run," Fred retorted, but his brother brushed him off.

"I guess Ill just have to take your word for it then," Mina said, and she smiled at him as she knew she was going to absolutely crush him at this race.

* * *

When Mina bet Fred he had been nice about it, but had been quick to forget (most likely on purpose) about their wager.

She hurriedly caught up to Fred before he could run off at the end of practice.

Mina cleared her throat, and Fred turned around.

"Yes, Donnelly?" He asked, a cheeky smile on his face as he was trying to run off with his brother.

"I believe you have something to say Mr. Weasley."

Fred quirked an eyebrow, confused before he remembered the wager they had made before their race. He leaned took a step closer to her and lowered his voice.

"Mina don't make me do it with this many people around. Please," Fred whispered, definitely not begging. He eyed his own team, the Ravenclaw team, and his friends which were all starting to make their way to the exit, which they were standing at.

Mina's smile widened.

"Fred Weasley, are you," she took a dramatic breath, "too chicken to say that I'm a better quidditch player than you? It's fine if you are, you just gotta admit it."

His eyes got small as he glared, and he dramatically answered her.

"Donnelly, you monster." He took a dramatic step away from her.

"Can I get everyone's attention. Mina Donnelly is a much better seeker, and all around quidditch player than me, Fred Weasley," he did an overexageratted gesture with his hand, and everyone looked over with only mild enthusiasm.

Mina took a quick bow, thinking that was it.

Fred looked at her with a glint in his eye, and then continued.

"Which is why I'll be rewarding her with this hug," her eyes widened as he neared her. She eyed his sweaty shirt as she ran away from him.

"Nope, not today Fred. Go hug someone else, thanks for the offer but no thanks." Fred laughed as he chased after her and eventually caught her. Mina squealed, and tried to get away from him.

Anne saw an opportunity and took it, which is why when she saw the pitch mostly empty she turned and yelled, "Get a room you two," before running off.

They froze before realizing Fred still held onto her, and pulled apart from each other, a faint blush on both of their cheeks. Fred cleared his throat before changing the subject the best he could.

"So, did you learn anything exciting in potions recently?"

* * *

 _ **I know I keep saying I'll write a longer chapter but I really mean it next week, I owe you guys.**_

 ** _I almost didn't write this update (it's currently Saturday night and I update mid Sunday) but I told myself that's a slippery slope to abandoning a_** ** _fic, so I will power through. And I haven't missed an update yet, so I'm not about to start now._**

 ** _As for why I almost didn't update, I'm sick and I just went back to college so I'm busy with that and just don't feel too good. Hopefully the school year transition is more fluid for you guys than it is for me._**


	18. Chapter 18

"What are you guys talking about right now?" Mina asked as she swung onto the Gryffindor table next to Aidan, her Ravenclaw uniform standing out.

"Just How Ginny was reading this book-," George grinned at her widely.

"Sod off," Ginny's reply came as she reached for the book in question, her face bright red.

"-Where," George continued, "to avoid being seen the two main characters start kissing."

Mina rolled her eyes.

"What, you aren't a fan of the art?" George prodded her.

"Look, I don't have anything against it but it's an overused trope. Like, why would that automatically make them less likely to be seen? If you want your characters to kiss, just have them kiss."

George gave Ginny a look, before handing back the book and slinging an arm over her shoulder.

"Ginny dear, it looks like Mina isn't a fan of the art."

"Fan of what now?" Fred asked, sitting down in his seat. His tie was on crooked, his face was red, and his hair was wet. And yet... he looked good.

Mina bit her lip as she eyed him carefully before mentally scolding herself. She only thought she liked him the older day because she thought she was going to die. Nothing more.

"Well you would know Forge if you hadn't decided to take an extra long shower this morning," George poked at his twin.

"Well, I wouldn't have taken a late shower if you had woken me up sooner than when you had one foot out the door, Gred."

Mina smiled a little at the playful bickering as they went back and forth. She shot a glance to Aidan and remembered why she had sat at the table in the first place.

"Hey," she whispered across the table.

Fred paused for a moment before answering back, an emotion Mina couldn't pick up on in his voice. "Hey."

"So listen, I heard from a little bird that Aidan and Alicia will be studying in the library tonight. You up to go spy on them?"

"Of course, I'll meet up with you after I hear Alicia leave the common room."

Mina nodded her head.

"What are we whispering about," George said, his face close to his brother.

"Nothing," Fred said, pushing him away from him.

"Oh, ok, I get it," George said.

"What do you get?" Mina asked, feeling a little anxious inside for a reason she couldn't, and didn't want to, place.

"You two are planning your romantic getaway without me, but I'll have you know that I can't be gotten rid of that easily."

Mina's heart beat picked up, but she ignored it as she continued the conversation.

"You caught us. Fred, there goes Spain."

Fred's grin widened, as he ignored his blushing cheeks.

"Nice going," he said to his brother, just barely playing along as his brain was going a mile a minute.

George put his hands up.

"Look, I know something better than a romantic getaway for two to Spain. Have you consider a grand trip for ten to the Burrow? Hrm?"

"Ten? and what's 'the Burrow'?" Mina asked, confused.

"Forge, my dear brother, how could you plan a romantic escapade and not tell the girl about your family?" George turned from his brother to Mina. "Seven Weasley siblings, two parents, and you. The Burrow is our house."

"Huh," Mina said back, thinking. "I can't think of many houses that have their own names."

"Ah but the Burrow is not just any other home. You'll see, at the beginning of summer we'll make sure you get dragged out to our place before everyone has plans."

"Alright," Mina caught site of her watch. "Oh shoot, I've got to go. I'll catch up with you later, yeah?" And then she was out of the dining hall.

When Fred couldn't see her anymore he turned back to his food and caught the cheeky look his brother was giving him.

"Spain, huh?"

Fred pushed him off the bench.

* * *

"So step one to getting Mina and Fred together should be... um, any ideas?" Alicia asked Aidan.

He shook his head.

"Alicia, darling, we've been here for almost an hour and haven't come up with anything. I don't think we're cut for the matchmaking business."

Alicia blushes at the nickname, and powered on.

"Maybe we should get Anne involved? She's always been good with this type of thing."

He shook his head again.

"She's been off having her own romantic escapades recently."

Alicia pushed her empty parchment to the side, and rested her head on her hand.

"Oh, don't hold back."

"I don't know if she'd even call them that, but she's been spending a lot of time with Jae Fellows recently."

Alicia's nose wrinkled.

"Her? But isn't she mean?"

"She used to be, I'm not sure what happened but she's actually decent now. Anyways, that still doesn't help us with this. Personally, I think we should just let them be, they're bound to end up together at some point, you've seen how close they are."

"Yeah, but Mina was so good at helping us, I just want to do something good for he too," she said, placing a hand on Aidan's. "Also, I'm a bit too nosey for my own good."

They sat in silence for a moment before Aidan figured out what time it was.

"Oh, Merlin. We've got fifteen minutes to get back to our houses, C'mon."

* * *

"Shhhh, you're so loud," Mina said from her spot behind a bookshelf.

Fred sat on the ground tearing up a piece of parchment that he had been trying to figure out a product on. She picked up pieces of the parchment and put them together, slowly. She widened her eyes as she realized she had put them out of order, but that it might just fix his problem.

"Fred, you're a genius."

His eyebrow quirked. "That's not one I normally hear, are you sure you don't mean Percy?"

"I'm serious look at this!" she shoved the shredded bits back to him and his eyes widened.

"Merlin, I _am_ a genius."

He frantically copied it down, and Mina caught site of Aidan and Alicia leaving. She began piling things in her bag frantically not quite caring what belonged to who.

"C'mon genius. We've got to go."

* * *

The hallways were empty as they trailed behind them slowly.

They followed them all the way to the Gryffindor tower as Aidan kissed Alicia goodnight on the cheek, and Mina turned to Fred.

"We're probably good for the night, you might as well head in too."

He shook his head.

"And let you walk all the way to your common room by yourself? What type of Gryffindor do you take me for, Ms. Donelly?"

"Well," Mina dragged out, a little exasperated, "I took you for a Gryffindor who didn't want to get in trouble for staying out late."

Fred let out a little chuckle.

"Then I guess you don't know me very much. C'mon, let's go."

Mina ran to catch up to him.

"I just figured you'd been caught enough this term, that your mom might not like you getting in trouble again."

Fred waved it off.

"She doesn't care too much if we get in trouble anymore, she knows it's what we do."

Mina was about to answer but she caught site of a blue robe.

She cursed under her breath as she looked around frantically for a corner to hide behind. But there was nothing and her prefect had already seen them. So, she pulled Fred to the wall quickly placing him in front of her.

"Fred, I am so sorry about this, but you'll be thanking me when we aren't in trouble."

He only managed to get out "Wha-" before his words had been cut off.

Mina leaned up and kissed him.

She actually kissed him! He froze for a moment before melting into it. She was warm, and he could smell she smelled a bit like lavender and it was driving him mad. If it had been up to him, they would've been there all night, but they were cut off by someone yelling at them.

"Hey!"

Fred pulled away, upset with whoever, and then he remembered the prefect girl. The same prefect girl that had caught them before, who liked gossip too much.

 _Oh._

He knew what Mina had done was smart, and yet a part of his heart broke all the same.

"You two should get to your dorms," the prefect said with a small grin on her face.

They nodded and then were left in silence as they both seemed to realized what happened.

"Um, so, like I said, sorry about that. I'm just going to go, to bed that is," Mina stumbled with her words, as she grabbed her shirt sleeve to think about something other than his lips. "So, um, I''m going to do that. Goodnight."

And then she walked of to her dorm quickly, leaving Fred in the hallway heartbroken and confused over what happened.


	19. Chapter 19

Mina packed her trunk for winter break.

Or at least she tried to. She had currently packed and unpacked three times, and was in the process of repacking. Her mind was bouncing all over the place, trying to think of anything other than Fred, and the fact that they had- no, she wouldn't go there. Instead, she'd focus on making sure her jumper was absolutely folded correctly.

"Mina?"

Her head snapped.

Anne sat on her own trunk, staring at Mina unamused.

"I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes now, what's with you?"

She turned back to her folding with new interest. "Nothing's with me."

Anne raised an eyebrow, before she went over and took the sweater from her. She folded it, and the two of them stared at the sweater for a moment before Mina spoke quickly.

"Anne I kissed Fred."

"Really? When? No, tell me if it was good? It's about time," Anne smiled brightly at her, and Mina felt worse, in a way she couldn't describe. Anne thought that she had liked Fred and kissed him, and yet she had just done it to get out of trouble. She hoped Fred didn't think terribly of her.

The door opened as their roommates came in and Mina spoke in a hushed tone.

"It's not like that. We were out late, and our prefect came around and I panicked. I couldn't think of anything else to do," she whispered.

"Stage a fight?" Anne asked with a slight joking tone in her voice and Mina shook her head.

"Already did that."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Mina slowly folded more things and put them away as their roommates tittered away. She paused, before deciding she'd tell Anne what she was thinking... but maybe not all of it.

"I just feel bad. What if Fred gets the wrong idea? We're such good friends now, I'd hate for him to think that I was just using him."

Anne smiled for a second, thinking that Fred wouldn't mind Mina using him, but then she decided to ask about what Mina wasn't telling her.

"And what about you?"

Mina's eyebrows pinched together. "What about me?"

Anne smiled knowingly for a moment, before she pushed. "What do you feel about Fred?"

"That we're good friends and I don't want this to ruin our friendship?" Mina answered slowly, not getting what her friend was trying to say.

"No," Anne said, picking up another sweater to fold, "What Im saying, is that, if you were in a pinch with anyone else you would've found a million different things to do. I'm saying that, just maybe, a part of you likes Fred and you wanted to kiss him."

Mina sat staring at her friend for a moment, her entire world off kilter. She didn't feel like that about Fred, right? No, she knew how she felt and it was... well, it was... it couldn't be that. They were just good friends. She enjoyed being around him. It couldn't be anything more than that. She opened her mouth and nothing came out.

"Don't answer it now, just think about it over winter break. Whatever the answer is just know, your friendship with him isn't over."

* * *

Mina decided that she did have to say goodbye to her friends. She had hidden away in her room long enough on the grounds of packing, but now her trunk was done and she had to go to the train soon. She no longer had excuses.

She walked slowly to the great hall with Anne, and then they split from each other at the door. Anne went over to the Slytherin table and Mina... well, Mina froze at the door before she gathered just an ounce of courage to say goodbye to her friends gathering at the Gryffindor table.

Ginny was the first to see her, and she ran to Mina, and hugged her with such force it almost knocked her over. She laughed loudly and steadied herself.

"Have a good break Mina, I'll miss you."

Mina put a hand on Ginny's face, deciding she'd have to spend more time with the younger girl.

"Ill miss you too," her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll send gifts to one of you guys, but you might have to fight your brothers to actually get it."

Her face grew into a wide grin as she nodded. Mina drew her in for another hug, and then looked Hermione who was waiting behind her.

"C'mere you, don't think you can get out of this just because I'll see you on the train."

Hermione hopped into the hug as Mina promised her Christmas gift as well. The three of them pulled away from the hug.

Mina looked over to George and smiled at him. He pulled her into a hug.

"Don't be a stranger, alright?" Mina nodded her head and turned to Angelina, who had a bright smile on her face. Mina went in for a hug, but a hand fro Angelina stopped her.

"I dont do hugs," she smiled apologetically, and Mina nodded.

"I know we aren't too close, but I really consider you my friend. I'll miss you over break."

"Me too," Angie lied between her teeth. "You have to keep in touch, we'll have so much to talk about."

Looking to the right she saw Fred. She took a deep breath and walked over to him.

"Hi."

"Hi," Fred said, partially relieved that they were talking.

"I'll write to you over break, and Ill send gifts." He nodded his head and they sat there for a moment before Fred drew his courage.

"Oh c'mere, don't think you're not getting a hug," he drew Mina in for a hug and she drew a breath of relief as she rest her head on his chest. Things weren't awkward between them. Thank Merlin. She pulled away and sighed.

"Alright, I've got to go."

Fred nodded his head. Angie clamped onto his arm.

"Alright, bye, we'll miss you but you'll miss the train so you've gotta go."

Fred gave Angie a weird look for a moment, before deciding that the holidays must've out her in a weird mood.

Mina blinked for a moment, looking back and forth between the two for a moment ignoring the pain in her chest. Why didn't Fred tell her he was with Angelina? Or maybe they weren't but judging by the way she was holding onto him, it was bound to happen. She gave them one last smile, albeit halfhearted.

She turned to Aiden, Alicia, and Hermione.

"Alright, they're right let's go."

* * *

Mina got off the train with mixed feelings about her life, but was ready to pause those as she looked into the crowd.

She smiled and ran to hug her uncle.

"Uncle Tom!"

He caught her in the hug and laughed.

"There's my favorite Ravenclaw."

She smiled and he grabbed her trunk. They made their way out to the car.

"So I was thinking," he started out, "that over summer you might want to come stay at our house for a while? Maybe help me with work and stay sane?"

She straightened up. Her uncle didn't often talk about work, but she was curious about it. And more time spent with her uncle and aunt wouldn't harm her.

"Alright, sounds good to me."

"Fantastic. I'm thinking maybe after a week or so into the summer break I can get you, that way you still have time to spend with your friends and parents."

Mina nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Oh, and I might have some guests over, but they shouldn't bother you too much."

"Do I know these guests?"

"I don't think so, just some work friends and maybe their kids."

Mina nodded and thought more on what was to come over summer break.


	20. Chapter 20

_Dear Fred,_

 _I'm sorry that I let things get awkward, I'd love for us to just go back to being normal. Or maybe things are normal and I'm just the one being awkward because I feel different now. Or maybe I don't feel different now, I've only just realized how I feel? Either way I am sorry I kissed you, even though I might've meant it, because I don't want to make things awkward between you and Angelina, whatever you two are. I'm a little hurt you didn't tell me about that by the way, or maybe you knew I liked you before even I knew and you didn't want me to feel bad? Whatever the case, I'm sorry and I'd like for things to go back to normal even if I don't quite want them too, and for things with you and Angelina to work out, even though I don't really want that either._

 _All my love._

Mina groaned as she signed the letter.

There it was. Everything she felt out in the open, and there wasn't any way she could actually tell him any of this. Why couldn't people just say whatever and not have to worry about the repercussions of things? She glared at the letter before stuffing it away in a folder. Better to not even look at it instead of having her thoughts looming over her, or worse yet if she accidentally sent it to him she'd die on the spot.

Mina pulled out another piece of parchment.

 _Dear Fred,_

 _Hope your holidays are going well! Mine have been pretty lackluster here, other than the fact my uncle offered for me to stay with him for the summer (and maybe help with his work!) I've sent your Christmas gifts with my owl, but everyone's gifts will be here with it so please make sure you give it to them. I'll send Ginny a letter saying that you have to actually share the tin of cookies, so don't even think of keeping them for yourself! The packages are labelled as to who gets what, so you don't have to worry about that, but send my well wishes with them too, please. Okay, I've got to rush to get this to you in time for the holiday, see you at school!_

 _Best wishes, Mina._

She tied it onto her package and began to work on one for Ginny. Grabbing another piece of parchment from her folder she hurriedly scribbled.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _Happy holidays! I'm sending all of your gifts with Fred so make sure you get the package and at least some of the cookies in the tin. The cookies are for your family despite what he'll say, so make sure you put up a fight with that. Anyways, I'll see you at school, but be sure to tell me all of the trouble your brothers have gotten into in just a couple of weeks, because I'm sure they have._

 _Best wishes, Mina._

She tied it to the package for Ginny and then won her owl over with a treat.

"Who's a good girl," Mina asked as she petted the small creature. "This goes to The Burrow."

Her owl unfurled it's brown wings as it held the packages with its feet, and it disappeared out the window.

* * *

Fred took the packages from Mina's owl as it appeared in the window.

He went upstairs, opened her door, and tossed Ginny her package before disappearing off to his room to go through everything in private.

Ginny stared at the package written in Mina's handwriting for a moment before she excitedly tore into it.

There was a small bracelet in it that she had been talking about, that one of her dorm mates had. Ginny had talked Mina's ear off about it, but she didn't think that she had actually listened to her that entire time. Her heart swelled with affection for the girl, and hope that Mina liked her gift as well.

She tore open the envelope to have two pieces of paper fall out. She picked up the first and read Mina's well wishes, and the promise of cookies, before she picked up the second. Looking at who it was addressed to, she almost went to her brother on the spot, thinking that it had been a simple mishap and had gotten shoved into the wrong envelope, but Ginny couldn't help her curiosity.

She read it and then read it again.

She read it a third time.

Looking at the letter, she was sure Mina hadn't meant to actually send this. Mina was a lot of things, but she wasn't one for spilling her emotions. She must've just grabbed whatever paper was meant for Ginny and this must've been underneath it.

She jumped as Fred popped up in her doorway, frantically hiding the letter behind her back.

"So I know Mina said she'd tell me to share the cookies, but since you're the only other one who knows what about a proposition?"

"Hrm?" Ginny hummed, curious but not all too confident in her ability to keep this a secret at the moment.

"I'll share, but only with you and George. What about it?"

"Mhm, sure," she just barely got out, trying her best to keep her words to a minimum.

Fred gave her an odd look.

"Ginny?"

"Yeah?" she just barely got it, she had been holding her breath so much.

"Are you feeling okay?" He said as he moved to come in and feel her forehead.

"Yep!" she said with too much excitement and when his eyes narrowed she knew she was being suspicious. She slouched and thought she'd give acting a shot for her friend. "Mina got me a bracelet that I had been talking about during the term, I didn't even think she was listening when I was talking, but she was. I feel like what I gave her isn't enough."

Fred held a thoughtful look on his face for a moment.

"I'm sure shell love the picture you sent her, you shouldn't worry about it. Either way, Mina's never been particularly vain, so you'd be good."

Ginny let out a sigh as the conversation was nearing to an end.

"That's a relief, thanks."

"No problem. And Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

Fred gave her a serious look as his hand rested on the doorknob.

"Secret cookies."

"Secret cookies," Ginny mimicked back.

He left, closing the door behind him, and Ginny let out an even bigger sigh as she visibly slouched. She stuffed the letter underneath a bunch of textbooks in her room.

Better to hide it and then deal with it later. That's what Mina would want. In the mean time, Ginny had presents she had to open.

* * *

 _ **Trying to decide if I want another chapter of over winter break or not, but I'll see what I feel like throughout the week.**_

 ** _Also, you guys! I saw A Simple Favor yesterday, and oh my gosh. I went in with very little expectations about the movie because the ads have been kinda vague except for the premise and I was not disappointed. the first 1/3 of the movie I was worried I wouldn't like it, but it did a real turn around, and the last ten minutes of the movie were absolutely amazing. Also, Blake Lively in those pantsuits was great. I'm 100% thinking about being her in that one white pantsuit with the cane with the skull on top for halloween now, despite the fact that I was already 90%. done with the costume I was making. Who knows, maybe it'll be a two costume halloween._**

 ** _Any ways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, because when I figured out what I was doing I was a little giddy._**


	21. Chapter 21

Mina had been doing a good job and keeping her cool around Fred, even if she knew he had something going on with Angelina. Or at least, she had been keeping her cool until Fred and George came running to their group in a hurry one day.

"Look, Fred's got a bleeding nose!" got Mina's attention relatively quick. She was on her feet hurrying towards him in a hurry.

He stood just behind George, his head tilted back and hands cupping his nose like it might've been broken. He had what looked like a cut on his chin slowly bleeding.

She nudged Angelina to the side as she tiled his head down.

"You're bleeding a lot," she said, trying her best to hide her panic.

"Don't worry," he said as nonchalantly as a person can with a broken nose, "most of it's not mine."

She quirked an eyebrow as her grip on his chin tightened just a fraction more.

"That's only worrying me more. What do you mean most of it isn't yours?" She poked his nose carefully and he flinched, confirming her suspicions.

"Fred got in a fight," George piped in, with pride in his voice.

Mina thought for a moment about what she was going to say. _With who? What about? That's normally not like you?_

Instead she opted for simple.

"Did you throw the first punch?"

He tried shaking his head, but it didn't move much in her grasp. "No."

She turned his head slowly, to the right then to the left, taking in almost every inch of his face searching for more damage. He watched her doing this and of just a second he thought maybe she liked him. Maybe, she was being overprotective. But then he remembered that she pretty much worked in the hospital wing and pushed that thought to the side. His hand went towards his chin, near where her hand was like he was going to hold it to comfort her, for just a moment, before it shifted course and brushed his hair out of his face. Better to play it like he didn't care, than make her uncomfortable with unwanted advances.

"I'm fine, honest. They barely even got me."

Her eyes widened.

"Oh? That's what you call a broken nose then? Because to me that seems like a pretty big deal. No, you'll need to go to the hospital wing, now."

"It's not that big of a deal. Can't you just episky me, and we can all be on our merry way."

Her eyebrows scrunched. She let go of his chin, if not a little harshly.

"I can't just _be on my merry way_ , and I told you it is a big deal. Now, Fred Weasley, you're going to the hospital wing if I have to carry you there or not. Are you going to be cooperative?"

They stewed in an awkward silence for a minute, anger sharp in the air at the other not understanding. Then Mina looked around them. All their friends had gone deadly silent, taking in what was happening. Angelina was sending her a particularly set look, which she was sure was a way of saying _Mina I know you may not have meant to be flirting with my boy, but back down._ She took a step back, away from him as she realized how close she had been to him. Close enough to smell the firework powder on him, from his last batch of experiments. She took a steadying breath before she looked at Fred again, more level this time than she was before.

"Fine. What do I care," she said directed at him. She turned to Anne as she spoke her next words, "if anyone needs me, I'll be in the hospital wing, helping to heal people who actually want help."

And with that, she was off.

Fred watched as she left from a weird angle as Angelina had now clasped firmly onto his arm.

What had he just done?

* * *

Anne found her angrily fluffing some pillows.

Judging by the way Madam Pomfrey was casting looks her way, she hadn't trusted her to tend to patients in her current state. It was probably for the better, but Mina had worked herself up. She nearly yelled at Anne when she put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Mina passive aggressively asked.

"You know," Anne trailed for a moment. "The whole blowing up at Fred thing."

"I didn't blow up at him," she snapped, throwing the pillow down onto the bed roughly, moving along to the next one. Anne followed her tentatively.

"Of course not. But something happened there, and I may not have a word for it, but it was pretty obvious something was going on."

" _Something going on?_ What was going on, is I can't stand people who so clearly need help, but refuse to use it. We have a perfectly fine working hospital wing here to heal people, and yet some people don't want that help, despite other people only looking out for those people, and one of those people doesn't seem to get that it's almost the job of one of those other people to help people who are hurt, and that it's insulting to say that some people completely unqualified can just fix them just as good."

"People, huh?" Anne let out a half amused snort, but dropped it at the look Mina sent her.

"You know what I mean."

"I do. In fact, I think I know what you mean more than _you_ know what you mean."

"What do _you_ mean?" Mina asked, completely distracted in her pillow crusade.

Anne looked around at the few other students in the hospital wing for a moment, before leaning in close to Mina.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?"

Mina led her over to the storage room, ignoring the small smile Madam Pomfrey had given the two girls. The door shut and Mina turned expectantly to Anne.

"You're so worked up over being able to help him and him not accepting it that you're completely missing the point of why you're actually upset. You've got a crush on him, which is perfectly fine, except you feel rejected. For whatever reason, I mean, it's not like you've told him about it or anything. I think if you just shoot your shot, and got it over wth all this preemptive anger would be resolved."

Anne watched Mina's face as it went through several different emotions as she was ready to argue her way past it, but eventually her face landed on vulnerable.

"It's not that easy."

"Yeah it is all you do is say," Anne lowered her voice a little in a poor attempt of mimicking Mina, " _Fred I fancy you, we should go out."_

"Except for the fact that I already know his answer, and I don't want to hear it," Mina's voice wobbled for a minute.

"You don't know for sure."

"I'd have to be blind not to. You see how he and Angelina look at each other, right? How they practically hang off of one another? I can't just _shoot my shot_ , because I'm only going to get shot down," her voice cracked on her next words. "Anne I'm not strong enough to get shot down by him. I think I might break."

Anne's heart broke.

"Surely it can't be that bad, Mina?" Anne asked quietly.

"I just..." she trailed off for a moment, her voice steadier now. "He just makes me feel so... _ugh_ , and I just _ugh_ , and I can't really put any words to it but the entire way I feel is just _uggghhhhhhh_."

"So it really is that bad."

Mina sat down on the bench in the closet, and Anne followed suit, before she began again.

"You know, whatever happens and however he feels, I'll still be here for you. I may have my own stuff going on, but we can always come back to one another no matter what. Even if you feel you're broken in too many pieces to put back together, I'll be there with super glue and a baseball bat to break whoever broke your heart." Mina smiled. "Just as I know you'd do the same for me. That's what best friends do, right?"

"You really feel that way? You aren't too busy with Jae?"

Anne waved a hand in the air.

"I'm still working on warming up Jae, but you're more than welcome to come crash with us anytime and we can educate her on the muggle world, or stupid movies, or whatever."

"Thanks, Anne. I really mean it. I think I needed this. And Madam Pomfrey will be happy to know I won't stab anyone."

"Always a plus," Anne murmered.

Mina stood and Anne pulled her into a hug. They stayed there for a moment before Mina pulled away.

"I better get back to work though."

"Of course," Anne said as Mina opened the closet door. She walked out in front of Anne, and as her friend followed she called out to her.

"Hey Mina," Anne said, causing her to turn," I'm coming out of the closet." She said as she gracefully strut out of the storage closet.

Mina let out a long laugh as Anne gleamed at the attention to her bad joke.

"You've never used that one before, but are you really coming out of the closet if you were already out?"

Anne faked a look of horror.

"I'll have you know I can come out however I want, whenever I want. Even if that happens to be a million times."

"Well, I think your puns are _pan-tastic_." Anne brimmed with pride at the bad pun.

"Mina, my dear friend, I just fell in love with you a little bit. Also, when I reuse your joke next time, I'm gonna need to act surprised because pantastic is going to be in every conversation from now on."

Mina smiled at her friend for a moment, glad she had her friendship. Even if she had to deal with all her puns, the talk did help Mina feel better.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey found Mina making a sleeping draught.

"Mina, there's someone in the bed over there I can't get to right now, can you handle it for me?"

She nodded her head, before she threw the lavender into the potion, and hurried off to the bed in question. She ducked into the curtain as she was brushing the excess lavender powder onto her dirt.

"Alright, so what seems to be the probl-" she looked up and saw it was Fred. "-em." She trailed off. The blood by his nose had started to dry and the blood, whoevers blood, was on his cheek had dried. She avoided looking at him, instead on the space above his shoulder. Above his head. Even the lamp on the bed next to him.

"I'll be right back, I need some things," she said, and sure enough she was back in a moment, this time her arms full of a bowl and various other herbal ingredients.

He watched as she mixed a few items together to make a salve, and tentatively sat on the edge of his bed. He said his first words to her as she was putting it onto his nose.

"I thought you weren't good at herbology?"

"Oh, I'm not. But as long as I know what heals and what kills, I really don't have to bother too much with planting whatever and everything else. Plus, you're brother's a good tutor."

He tried not to wince, both as she patted the salve onto his nose and at the thought of her spending time with his brother.

"Oh? Do you and George do this tutor sessions a lot?"

He watched as her eyebrows knitted together. "No, only a couple of times. And most of them, he and Anne were going to study and I was just listening in, but I suppose I absorbed enough information from that."

They sat in silence for a moment.

Mina busied herself by taking the rag and bowl of water to his cheek. She could feel his gaze on her, but she focused on the task at hand. He winced as she pressed against a bruise that was forming, but she continued on. When all the blood was gone from his face, she removed the salve. Then she pulled out her wand and fixed his noise. He groaned for a moment, but then he blinked an the pain went away.

"Any other injuries?" She asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

He wanted to joke with her. _Just my heart_ , he wanted to say. But clearly she wasn't in the mood, and they had just been fighting, so he figured it wouldn't be the right move. So instead he ignored her, and asked his own question.

"You're not going to ask why I was in the fight? You asked if I started it, but not why?" he looked at her, practically begged her to make eye contact with him, but instead she looked at the bowl in her hands.

"It's none of my business why you were in the fight," she stood up, standing now by the curtain, ready to go clean the rag and bowl. "I only asked if you started it to know if you'd be in any trouble or not. Put those on," she said gesturing to one of the few hospital gowns the wing actually had. "I'll be back in a moment with something to stave of infection, although, it won't taste any good. Which is why you'll need to change, some people react poorly to it." She lamely finished, stuck there for a moment before she left.

She busied herself for a while, but eventually she knew she'd have to go back over to him. So she sucked it up.

Pulling back the curtain however, she was able to see several bruises forming on his torso that he was examining. Although, he froze now, covering his chest with his shirt.

Mina sighed in frustration.

"I asked if you had any other injuries, why didn't you mention that?"

"It's no big deal," he said, although the blooming bruises on his torso said otherwise.

"Sit down," she said in a commanding voice that he couldn't argue with.

She went about it again, making a salve and applying it, although she really couldn't look him in the eye then and if she had been asked the redness in her face was due to the wing being stuffy, and then she took her wand out again healing him.

He put the gown on and sat in the bed, watching as she went about making an antibiotic.

She thought he was stupid. If he had just come earlier, she wouldn't have to be doing all of this. The medicine wouldn't be necessary, staying overnight wouldn't be necessary, them being awkward wouldn't be necessary. But it was, because he hadn't.

His question rang in her ears. _Why didn't you ask me why I got in a fight?_ At first, Mina had been in healer mode, so it hadn't really mattered. But now... now her mind had grabbed onto it, and wouldn't let go. Why had he gotten into a fight? He wasn't normally one for them. She had been working through a convincing speech to her head on why she shouldn't ask when her mouth went ahead and asked it anyway.

"Why did you do it?" She asked so quietly he thought he'd been hearing things. "Get in a fight, I mean."

He sat there for a moment, watching her movements. Adding in bits and pieces of whatever into a vile that would taste disgusting. He took a deep breath, breathing in the faint scent of lavender, before he answered slowly.

"Someone had been talking about you."

"What about?" She slowed in her task, instead catching sight of his jaw clenching.

"They said something that I won't say, but I told them to get your name out of their mouths or I get it out of their for them."

"You should've just let it go," she said, completely side tracked now. Her eyes met his when she spoke. "Honestly, I don't care what people say about me."

He held his head high, and for the first time since he'd been there he didn't meet her eyes when she looked at him. He looked at the curtain in front of him.

"You may not care, but I do. Anyways," he continued, playing with his fingers to keep himself busy, "we exchanged some words, and eventually they threw the first punch. You thought I was bad, you should see the other guy."

Mina looked at him touched. While she thought it completely unnecessary, she had never had anyone fight for her honor before and she felt her heart flutter. But then she remembered her conversation with Anne and it dropped. She picked up a leaf from the table and it turned from a red to a pink. She turned back to him.

"Well, you didn't have to do that. Thank you though, I am touched."

Fred met her eyes as he spoke his next words, possible the most true ones he'd ever said. "I would do it again."

"I don't think you should do it again, but the sentiment is felt nonetheless."

She stirred the vial and then held it out to him.

"It's better if you plug your nose when you take it, but you might be a bit sore from the..." she trailed off, instead gesturing to his nose.

he nodded and downed it, and while pulling a face, he kept it down.

He could feel his eyes growing more and more tired as he drifted off to sleep, and both of their last thoughts were of the other.

* * *

 ** _Got a long one for you today bois, stayed up until 2am despite knowing I needed to wake up at 6 because I was in a writing mood and was feeling this chapter. Hope you like it._**


	22. Chapter 22

Mina sighed in frustration as she scrubbed the cauldron in front of her harder. She could see Fred trying to catch her eyes, but she ignored him instead. She was angry at him.

He had been pestering her all of transfiguration for help with a product, and hadn't listened to her insisting of McGonagall being in a bad mood and that they would get in trouble, and had landed them in detention with Snape. McGonagall had been in a worse mood than Mina had thought.

So she would ignore him until this was done, and until she had blown off steam for missing a dramatic reading of an old diary with her roommates that they had found in a thrift store.

She backed up, and eyed the cauldron carefully, before turning to the next one. She turned, and caught a faint smell of firework powder before she ran into a person.

Fred smiled bashfully for a moment, before he cleared his throat.

"Let me make this up to you after we're done," she raised an eyebrow, and he cut her off before she could start. "Don't decide now. Tell me after when we're done. I think you still might be a little too angry with me to decide now."

She snorted.

"What makes you think that?" She asked sharply, in a tone that said she already knew the answer.

He looked at her for a moment, before deciding to take the risk and answer.

"Because you're talking to me like that right now. But you're not in the mood, so I'll just leave you alone for now," he said, as he went back to the cauldren he had been working on before.

Sure, Mina was still angry, but now her curiosity was getting the better of her.

They worked in complete silence, with the exception of the sound of their sponges, for a couple of minutes. She cast a glance over to him cleaning and watched him for a minute. She let out a quiet sigh and sat up.

"Like what?"

He jumped and he almost hit his head on his cauldron, but he caught himself. He looked at Mina confused.

"Hrm?"

"Like what did you have in mind? I need to decide if it's enough for me to put my anger at you aside or not," she said with a faint smile on her face, telling him she was joking with him.

He could've sighed. At least she was joking with him, that was a good sign.

He flashed her a grin.

"Well, you're just going to find out, aren't you?" He said, placing a hand on the cauldron, leaning against it. When he almost fell, Mina snorted.

"You've got a convincing argument."

"That's what all the ladies tell me."

Mina smiled, and he went back to scrubbing his cauldron. She watched him for a moment. His sleeves were rolled up, his tie was a little loose, he had undone the top button on his shirt, and his hair was messy. She bit her lip.

 _Merlin help me._

She knew she was going with him later.

* * *

They scurried out of the potions classroom as soon as Snape let them.

Fred stared at her cheekily for a moment before she gave in.

"Alright, what did you have in mind?"

His smile widened.

"I told you, if you want to know you're just going to have to wait and find out."

"But what about curfew?" Her eyebrows furrowed.

"I guess you're just going to have to break the rules," Fred said, already walking away, waiting for her to catch up.

Mina stood frozen in place for a moment before she cursed under her breath. Fred really knew how to get her, he knew she wouldn't be able to refuse when she didn't know what it was. She ran to catch up to him.

"Alright fine you got me."

They walked in silence for a while, long enough for Mina to start growing restless, before he pulled her off to the side next to a portrait of fruit. He walked up to the bowl, and tickled the pear. Right as Mina was about to ask what he was doing the portrait swung open. Her eyebrows raised, and she closed her mouth, question gone.

"After you," he waved her in. She looked ahead at the faint light and let her feet carry her.

She found herself in a room that looked like a kitchen, except it was filled with house elves. There were tables that resembled those of the great hall and it clicked for her.

"No way."

Fred grinned, proud of the reaction he had gotten from her.

"Uh huh."

Mina looked at him.

"No way!" She said again, with more enthusiasm.

"Mina, my dear sweet girl, you are looking at the kitchens of Hogwarts."

* * *

 ** _This update is extremely short but I'll make sure the next chapter is longer, because I'm supposed to leave for a friends house in like two minutes. Anyways, this semester is going to be a lot shorter than last semester was, unless if I can figure out a lot of stuff to throw in here, but it works out because Im really excited to get to the summer because Ive got scenes planned out from when I first wanted to write this._**

 ** _Also, this isn't for a while, but I'm already thinking about when I'm done how I'm going to rewrite this story. I think I'll push most of the first semester stuff into the second semester and really buff up an enemy to friends thing between Mina and Fred. Also, originally Jae was mean this entire first year and I think in the rewrite I'll actually stick to that and draw out a slow friendship between her and Anne. But don't worry, I think Aidan and Alicia will be left alone because I love them so much._**

 ** _Anyways, don't mind me but those are my plans. Hope you enjoy the chapter._**


	23. Chapter 23

"This is crazy!" Mina said as she watched house elves scurrying around the busy kitchen. Fred sat back and watched Mina take in the kitchen in complete awe for a moment before she spun to face him.

"How long have you known about this?" She asked him, still glancing around her trying to take it all in.

"Since second year. George and I were messing around and we practically fell in here. The house elves were quick to feed us and send us on our way with snacks," he said, a small smile on his face at the memory.

"You've known about it for that long and you didn't share that with me?" She asked a little hurt. Fred's face faltered a little at the look she gave him, but he let out a small chuckle.

"That's because we didn't talk before this year. Well, talk nicely anyways. The house elves love company, but could you imagine if we went around telling everyone about this how packed it would be at all times? We've kept it a secret for purely selfish reasons."

Mina looked back around the room for a second, at all the space in there, and while she knew there easily would've been enough room for students to be coming and going out of there, for her own selfish reasons she had to agree with him.

"Well, I hate to say it but you're right. I know I'll be studying here for finals."

"That's a new one from you," Fred said with a cheeky smile.

"What? That I'll be studying?" Mina asked confused.

"No, that I'm right."

The comment earned him a playful slap, which only made his smile grow wider. He pulled her over to the table that would be the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, and they sat down.

A small house elf scurried over to them now that they weren't in the shadows of the room.

"Mr. Weasley you brought a friend!"

"You say that like your'e surprised I have any friends Zinky."

The house elf played with the dish towel that had been in her hands.

"It's just that you and the other Mr. Weasley are the ones we normally see in here," Zinky paused for a second before she whispered the next part. "Plus you've never brought a girl in here before Mister."

Mina snickered as Fred reddened at the insinuation, before he cleared his throat.

"I was wondering if we could get a basket of food. Doesn't really matter what," He said before looking to Mina. "Want anything specific?"

Both Fred and the house elf stared at Mina for a moment, before she let out a faint reply.

"Hot chocolate?" she said, her head tilted slightly unsure if that was something the house elves would do.

Zinky nodded her head and disappeared for a moment.

"Do any of your siblings know about this?" she asked, in new curiosity on the extent of people who knew about the Hogwarts kitchens.

"George does, but that's it. Percy would have a heart attack if he knew I was coming here, and I'm sure Ron would eat them out of food. I don't know if Bill or Charlie knew about it, but I could ask them... although that might make it so Percy and Ron hear it which would be an issue. Ginny would like it, but I think I'll wait until she's a little older. Maybe I'll drag her in here next year."

Mina nodded her head.

Zinky reappeared with a basket and two cups full of something Mina assumed was hot chocolate.

"Thank you Zinky, it was a pleasure as always."

"Of course Mr. Weasley, Zinky likes when you show up," the house elf turned to Mina. "It was nice seeing you...?"

Mina caught on at the question the house elf was asking.

"Mina Donnelly," she gave Zinky a small smile.

"It was nice seeing you, Miss Donnelly."

"It was nice seeing you, Zinky."

Mina had learned at the third attempt that she wasn't going to get where they were going out of Fred, but by the time they turned the corner she had a small idea.

"Why exactly are we going to the owlery? If you had letters to send and thought bringing me along was your way of making up the fact you landed us both in detention, I'm going to tell you now, it's not going to do anything."

"Just give me a minute," Fred said pushing open the doors to the owlery, and then he started digging in the basket.

After a moment he pulled out a blanket and spread it on the ground. When he sat down with the basket, Mina took the hint and followed suit.

She looked around at the room. The owlery was big and round and held tons of sleeping owls, but they were in the small walkway before the main section of the room to avoid the attention of the birds. She could feel the cold night air on her skin, and she closed her eyes for a moment. She was still able to see the sky through the small holes in the walls for the birds and she smiled.

Mina turned to Fred only to catch him looking at her. He reddened and handed her a cup. She took it and he pulled a thermos out and poured her some hot chocolate. They sat in silence for a moment before he spoke up.

"When I need to think, I like to see the sky. Something about the night air and the stars makes it seem like my problems aren't so big, you know?"

Mina looked up again, and could just barely make out the stars.

"Yeah, I get what you mean," she took a small sip of her drink. "The ceiling in the Ravenclaw common room is enchanted, kind of like the one in the Great Hall, to look like the night sky. It's comforting, but it's not quite the real thing. I need to feel the air on my skin, to be able to breath it in, in order to really feel the comfort it normally brings."

Fred nodded his head. He pulled some sweets out of the basket and handed her some. Mina smiled at the leftover strawberry dessert from the night before as she took a small bite of it.

Her owl chirped to get her attention. It hopped close to her and tilted it's head. Mina sighed before breaking her treat in half and feeding it to her owl. The bird chirped again, in a happy tone, and she reached out to scratch it on the head.

"I would've done this outside," Fred broke her attention, "if it hadn't been for the dementors. I figure this way, we can still kind of be outside, without them coming towards us."

"I wouldn't have even thought of it," Mina murmured to herself.

They finished up their hot chocolate and sweets in silence, both enjoying the each others presence. Eventually, their food was gone, and their cups were empty, so they started to pack up.

Fred walked Mina all the way back to the door to her house, despite her insistence that she could walk herself back and the fact that it was getting close to curfew.

"Does this make up for the fact that I got you in detention?"

Mina raised her eyebrows. She had forgotten about detention by the time they made it to the kitchen, let alone the fact that he did all of this to make it up to her for the both of them being there. She wasn't sure why, but a small part of her was disappointed. It wasn't like he had any other reason to have done all that, and she was upset with herself for thinking otherwise for even a moment. He was just a friend, making up the fact that he got her in trouble.

Mina gave him a forced smile, although she wouldn't tell him that it was forced.

"Fred you are officially off the hook. Now go back to your dorm before you get in trouble again."

He did a fake salute before turning in the direction of his house.

Mina waited until he rounded the corner before she leaned against the wall. She looked up to the ceiling as she willed her eyes to stay dry. How could she have been so stupid?


	24. Chapter 24

Mail day was something of another nature.

The excitement it created, and the slight frenzy, made for a slightly chaotic mood. Even more chaotic than life at Hogwarts normally was. So when a letter fell down into her lap, she ignored the questioning looks of her friends. She ignored them even more as her face drew a wide grin and stuffed the letter into her pocket. She ignored them for as long as she could, which is just until Anne told Fred about her mysterious letter. She sent her friend an annoyed look before she explained herself.

"It's a letter from my uncle. He wants to make sure I still want to stay over at their house for the summer."

Fred slung an arm over her shoulder.

"Good, because someone will need to keep an eye on you while I'm in Egypt."

"Since when are you going to Egypt," Mina raised an eyebrow.

"Since mum sent me a letter about it. Don't worry, you're all still invited over before we leave though."

Mina nudged his arm off of her.

"I am curious to see what kind of house made you... well you," Fred gave her a look that she couldn't quite decipher.

"is that good or bad?" Mina was just about to toe the line on her answer, that it was a bit of both, before he smiled at her. "I'm just pulling you're leg, George and I are a nuisance who cause trouble and mum's sure to tell us about it. She can't wait to meet you, saying that you've been a good influence on me or something."

Mina smiled a small smile, excited to meet Mrs. Weasley in return.

* * *

Fred groaned.

"It's no good Mina, I'm going to fail all of my OWLs. Save yourself before I corrupt you too."

Mina let out a snort at his enthusiasm.

The kitchens were warm, the house elves in a frenzy for the upcoming end of the year feast, and Fred had rolled up his sleeves. She bit her lip as she played with her necklace, trying not to get lost in thought. He looked up at her and stared for a moment, to Mina's horror since she had to throw her hair in a ponytail without a brush due to the heat and she hadn't put any makeup on due to her exhaustion from studying. She watched him before she looked down at her necklace with a thought.

"Fred Weasley, you will not fail all of your OWLs if I have something to say about it," she began to pull her necklace off, despite the questioning looks from him, and held it out to him.

"Mina, you know I can't take that from you. Your uncle gave that to you as a lucky charm," he looked at her with his warm eyes, and took her hands in his. He closed her fingers over the necklace and pushed her fist back over to her, trying to get her to keep it.

She shook her head thinking of the year she's had.

Some lucky charm it was. She'd nearly died, for the second year in a row.

"I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me what luck it's brought me this year," she stared at him waiting for an answer before he meekly responded.

"Well, we became friends this year," he said, leaning closer to her from across the table.

"That is true," she mused while holding it, before she extended her arm back out. "I insist, really. Take it as a token of our friendship then. Besides, I don't want my OWL score to be determined by luck."

He watched her for a moment before he sighed.

He took it from her hand slowly, their fingers brushing slightly which made him feel warm inside, and the color slowly changed from Ravenclaw blue to Gryffindor red.

"You may not need the luck, but I do. I know a sign when I see one. I'll give it back to you after OWLs," he said, slipping the necklace over his head, and it landed against his chest with a thud.

"It's yours. Really. Besides," Mina smiled, "if you pass your OWLs then I'll know that it works. Consider it a science experiment."

Fred feigned a hurt expression.

"You would use me for science?"

"If it meant you passing your OWLs, I'm sure you're mum would cover you in any lucky charm she could find."

She dodged a piece of cookie being thrown at her, with a giggle, before they turned back to their books.

* * *

Mina sighed as she left the kitchen.

Despite having OWLs, she still had to go to the hospital wing. If she was certain people would stop dying for a week, then she'd gladly leave Madam Pomfrey to her own devices, but the older woman had asked her to come by and come by she would.

Walking past the Great Hall she could see Hermione, Ron, and Harry walking around with set faces.

"Where are you going off to cause trouble?" she said with a smile on her face, at the surprised look on their faces. She got rapid replies of 'nowhere' and 'nothing' and tilted her head. She opened her mouth for a question but shook her head instead.

"You know what, never mind. Better I don't know in case you get in trouble, that way I have plausible deniability. Have fun, be safe."

They scurried off through the doors out to the courtyard.

Mina was just about to continue on her way, but grew worried she had left her potions essay back at the kitchen. She spent a minute digging through her bag before she was sure she had it. Crisis averted.

Turning around to head towards the hospital wing her eyebrows furrowed.

"Hermione?"

The girl in question looked just as frightened as she had a moment ago.

"Oh, hi Mina."

"I could've sworn you just," Mina trailed off as she pointed towards the door to the courtyard but shook her head. "Never mind. Stupid castle is turning me around. Where's Ron?"

Harry looked to Hermione for a second before he looked to her.

"He forgot something, and asked us to get it for him."

Her eyebrows furrowed again. Why ask them to get it and not go with them? In answer to her question hanging in the air, Hermione jumped in.

"He thought he might've seen his pet rat that he lost, he asked us to get it's treats for it while he went and tracked it down."

Harry gave Hermione a look, and Mina nodded.

"Alright then, I won't keep you guys waiting then. Be safe with whatever you were planning on doing before he found his rat," they nodded and as Mina walked past them she could hear them running. She shook her head.

She really didn't want to know what they were up to.


	25. Chapter 25

Mina hugged her pillow as she sat by Ginny and Hermione on the ground giggling.

She had arrived before dinner and had helped out Mrs. Weasley, who was an absolutely lovely woman, and had promptly been pulled off into Ginny's room despite most of her other friends sleeping downstairs. Although, given the amount of fun she was having, she'd take this any day over Lee Jordan talking about the proper way to care for a broomstick or Angelina on how many times she brushed her hair in the morning. She loved her friends dearly, but there was only so much she could take of them.

Ginny said something which brought out another round of giggling from the two of them, which they tried and failed to stifle when they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Ginny said through giggles, nearly sending Mina and Hermione into another fit.

Fred opened the door hesitantly, looking almost bashful to intruding.

"What do you want?"

"Can I hang out in here with you guys?"

"Why? What did you do?"

"Nothing. It's just, they can all be a bit..." he took a breath before continuing. "They can all be a bit much and it's starting to get late. I'd like to be able to sleep and not worry about anyone drawing on my face through the night."

Ginny looked to Hermione and Mina seeing how they felt on the issue, and after a moment she gave a shrug.

"Fine. Just don't mess with anything. Oh! And go grab your own pillow, I don't want you using any of mine."

Fred rolled his eyes, but after a moment he returned in his pajamas with a pillow. He walked over to Mina and took a seat next to her, and suddenly she felt self conscious over her over sized shirt and sweatpants. She had no makeup on and had her hair in a sloppy bun, which she somehow managed to keep her hands away from fixing, and was currently snuggled up in a Disney blanket. She was far from the definition of beauty. She sat up a little in hopes that it would help, and if Hermione. and Ginny noticed they sure didn't say anything. (Although, Mina noted, Ginny was giving her an odd look and she was beginning to wonder whether or not she had grown a second head.)

"Alright," she started slowly, "Now that we've got a boy here we've got to throw out the previous conversation entirely."

"Why? You don't have to do that, just pretend I'm one of the girls I don't care."

Mina put on a fake look of reluctance before she spoke.

"Oh no, you don't want to hear about this. Ginny was just professing her love for Harry. And Hermione for Ron," she said, a joking ton to her voice that said she wasn't serious.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Who were you professing your love for?" he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. She gave him a shove before she answered him.

"I was about to profess my love for," she stared up him and sat up straight, "the house elves of Hogwarts, for making some truly delicious food."

"That sounds like a cop out to me. Does that sound like a cop out to you?" He said, gesturing to Hermione and Ginny. Hermione let out an accusatory 'mhm' while Ginny stumbled through her words.

"What? Of course not, I'll have you know I love every one of the house elves from Hogwarts that's a perfectly valid answer."

"Ginny I didn't know you cared so much. Well if that's really the case, then let me tell you about SPEW..." the next few minutes were spent going back and forth with Hermione and Ginny about the benefits of free house elves and whether or not they liked working. Hermione looked on the winning end of the argument when Fred cut her off.

"You're both forgetting the point here. Mina gave a lame answer, she needs to answer truly if you confessed to your obsession with Harry."

Ginny quickly brightened, her face matching her hair.

"I do not have an obsession with him, Mina was just joking around she shouldn't have to say anything."

Mina felt touched Ginny was trying to save her from answering, although she didn't know why - maybe to avoid saying she actually did like Harry, but she knew Fred was determined and he was going to have to get an answer whether it was right or not.

"Ginny it's fine really." She pulled a face at her next words, "The truth is I've got a huge thing for Percy. Just the way he's so against fun really does it for me," she said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

Fred let out a fake gasp.

"No, not my own brother! You couldn't have picked one of the more attractive ones?" This caused Mina to snort.

"Like who?"

He put a finger to his chin, the picture perfect image of being deep in thought.

"George."

"George?"

"George."

She gave him a lame look.

"You guys are identical twins."

"You know what, I never thought about it before, you're right!" He gave Ginny a crazed look, "Do you think mum knows we're identical twins?"

It was Ginny's turn to look at him lamely.

"You guys' are being weird, I'm going to bed," she said as she threw her covers over herself, although they didn't know that it was a way for her to get out of the conversation with her blowing Mina's secret.

Hermione threw a glance at a watch and Mina pretended to ignore the quick look she had given the two of them in between it.

"It's getting pretty late, I think I'll go to bed too. Feel free to stay up, just maybe whisper so we can get some sleep."

Mina said goodnight to them, and then her and Fred relocated to the corner on Ginny's room in hopes that they wouldn't wake the two suddenly very sleepy girls.

"Did I thank you, by the way," he whispered.

"For what?"

"For this," he pulled Mina's necklace out from under his shirt, and she felt her heart flutter a little at the fact that he was still wearing it. "I think it may have saved me from failing all of my OWL's. You can have it back now if you want."

Mina shook her head.

"I told you, it's been nothing but bad luck for me. It's all yours."

He tucked it back into his shirt, mumbling something about 'one man's trash'. She turned to look out the window, and hid a small smile as she saw the moonlight falling on the two of them, now that she knew how she felt about looking out at the sky.

"Now, if you can find a way to bottle the feeling the night sky gives me, I won't turn you down on that."

He put his head on her shoulder in order to see the window.

"I would if I could."

She turned and realized how close they were, before he suddenly pulled away and leaned against the wall.

"We should probably go to sleep soon too."

"Yeah."

Yet they stayed up and talked about anything and everything for a good while later, until eventually Fred felt a weight on his shoulder, and found Mina asleep.


	26. Chapter 26

When Mina woke up, the sun was just rising, casting light straight towards her eyes. She winced and turned the other way, into her nice, very large pillow. Her pillow that was currently breathing?

She risked a peak, to see she was sleeping on Fred, before she quickly shut her eyes again.

When had she fallen asleep? Did she fall asleep while he was still awake? She was absolutely mortified, but the fear of waking him up kept her in place. It definitely wasn't the fact that he was very warm and she was very comfortable. She drew her blanket around her and matched her breathing to his, and before she knew it she was asleep again.

* * *

The next time she woke, she knew it had been later in the day. The room felt warmer than it had last time, and she could no longer hear Ginny and Hermione's steady breathing. Something was moving her hair and when her eyes finally fluttered open she saw Fred smiling down at her. She smiled back, before looking around to see that Ginny and Hermione weren't in the room.

"They went down about two minutes ago. Honestly, I'm amazed they didn't wake you up with the amount of noise they were making."

Her eyes sleepily rounded back to Fred, who was still slowly twirling a piece of her hair through his fingers, as he answered the question that was on the tip of her lips.

"You could've woken me up, I didn't mean to completely fall asleep on you." _The first time, at least._

"You were a surprisingly comfortable blanket," Fred joked.

Slowly, and somewhat regretfully, she pulled herself away from him. A chill ran through her, but she chalked it up to the now suddenly cold room, and not the fact that she would've like to have stayed like that for longer.

"What time is it?"

"A little past eight right now. Mum will probably make breakfast in an hour or so."

She nodded.

Turning to her bag she pulled out some clothes for the day, and bunched them underneath her arms.

"Okay, I'm gonna go change and then go downstairs with everyone else."

This time Fred nodded. They stood there staring at one another for a moment before she seemed to remember what she was doing before dipping out of the door.

* * *

Fred smiled to himself as he leant back against the wall. He slept really well last night, and the presence of his crush had surely helped that. Slowly he stood, and stretched to crack his back, and tried to decide on whether he was going to change or just go downstairs the way he was. As he did, a small piece of paper caught his eye on Ginny's nightstand.

 _What could this be?_

She had tucked it between several books, but it stuck out just enough to draw attention. Ginny hated homework, and she was unlikely to touch any of it until the train ride back to Hogwarts, so that was out of the question. Was it a diary? No, why would it only be one page then? He pulled it into his hands, saying a silent apology for going through his sister's stuff, before looking it over.

And then he read it again, and again as a smile moved its way across his face.

It couldn't be a joke, because it was in Mina's handwriting. He couldn't begin to imagine how Ginny had gotten her hands on it, but in this moment it didn't matter. His heart thumped fast, and with each beat it whispered to him. _She likes me. Mina likes me._ He was already running through so many different way of telling her that he liked her too. He was positive he had never been happier.

He drew it close to his chest, knowing now that he'd seen it there was no way Ginny was going to get it back, before deciding that he had to go hide it among his things. It was something he cherished and he'd be damned if someone took it away from him. And then, he smiled to himself, he'd go and change. Preferably into something that looked good.

* * *

When Mina came back to the room to drop off her pajamas, Fred had already left.

She let out a small shrug.

She would see him downstairs, it wasn't like she needed to see him immediately. Pulling her bag into her arms she slowly made her way down the stairs, and dropped it by the fireplace where she knew she could find it for when she had to leave for her uncle's in a couple of hours, and then made her way into the kitchen to ask Mrs. Weasley if she needed any help.

While at first, she had been serious on not needing help, eventually she caved and put a bowl in her hands, keeping her busy.

That is until Angelina burst into the kitchen quickly.

"Mrs. Weasley, can I borrow Mina real quick?"

Mina looked to her as she nodded, before setting her bowl down and wiping her hands on her pants. She looked back at Angelina who was already making a beeline for outside. As she left, her eyes fell onto Fred in the room just past the kitchen.

He looked good.

A nice button up shirt and a pair of jeans were one of the things that were rarely things he wore, so she wondered what the occasion was. His eyes caught hers and his entire face lit up. She smiled back at him, and he started to make his way towards her before Angelina appeared at her side again.

"Mina?"

She blinked, before nodding, and cast one last look to Fred as she walked out the door with Angelina.

The garden was warm. Various plants she couldn't name reached out beyond their barriers, in need of a good trimming, and a shed just at the edge of the yard had remnants of muggle goods. Anywhere else, it would be a mess, but here it was so unbelievably in the Weasley smile that she had to resist a smile as Angela turned to her, a serious look on her face.

"I can't believe what just happened," she let out a joyful whisper, and Mina smiled happily at her friend.

"What?"

"Well, first you have to swear to complete secrecy. We don't want anyone to know," Angelina held up her pinky finger, and Mina entangled hers with it, shaking it slightly. "Okay, so Fred came downstairs in a good mood. You noticed right?"

She nodded her head.

She had noticed, it would've been hard to miss it. The clothes and the grin on his face. He wore happiness well.

"Well, Fred came downstairs and pulled me off to the side. And he told me he liked me! Can you believe it?" Mina's smile faltered, but she hoped Angelina had missed it. She wouldn't want to drag her down into her pity party when she was so happy. But she couldn't help being confused.

Why then had he not slept downstairs with everyone else? Maybe they were teasing the two of them for liking each other and he couldn't bear the truth. But then why did he let her sleep leaning against him? There was no answer to that, except for one that Mina did not like. He had known that she liked him this entire time and pitied her. She wanted to cry on the spot, but she willed the tears to stay back.

"Oh, wow."

Angelina nodded her head, her own smile growing bigger as hers faltered.

"I know. I needed someone to tell, and since we're so close I went straight to you," she lied through her teeth, for what seemed like the bajillionth time that morning. "And I know this might be kind of tough if my hunch has been right. You like him right?" She waited for Mina's small nod, before continuing, her viper like heart beating with her victory. "So I know this must be tough for you, but I thought you deserved to know."

"Thanks Angelina," her voice wobbled slightly and she cringed, knowing it would be hard to miss that. "That's really nice of you to think of me. I really am happy for you, but I think I should leave and just-" she let out a stifled breath "- and just try to get over him. Again, I am really happy for you, it's just a little tough for me right now, and I'd hate to ruin your happiness with me pitying myself."

Angelina nodded her head, before placing a hand onto her shoulder.

"Mina, I would do the exact same thing in your situation. You take all the time you need."

She nodded her head and stood up, and Angelina did the same. She opened her arms for a hug, and reluctantly Mina fell in to it. It was getting harder for her to blink back the tears as she pulled away and mumbled a small 'I should go now'.

Angelina smiled to herself as she watched Mina's retreating figure. That should give her plenty of time to get Fred over to her and away from Mina. And she knew Mina wouldn't dare try to do anything because of what she had just told her in the _confidence of their friendship_. She was going to be sick, if she had to think of Mina as her friend, but the naivety of the girl made it easy for her to take advantage of it. And take advantage of it she had.

* * *

Somehow Mina made it back to the kitchen. The tears hadn't fallen yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

"Mrs. Weasley I really do hate to go, but I just remembered my uncle said he needed me over early in order to help get ready for his guests. I don't want to risk making him angry."

Mrs. Weasley eyed the girl over, and thankfully missed her misty eyes, before nodding her head.

"Alright, floo powder is just by the fireplace there. You know how to use it right?" Mina nodded. "Good." Her arms opened for a hug and Mina gladly fell into them. "You come by whenever you need to, you hear? You're practically family the way Ginny and Fred talk about you."

 _Mina couldn't bear to think about him_ right now so she only nodded. Taking up a handful of the powder and her bag she risked one last glance to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley had gone back to working, although keeping a thoughtful eye on her to make sure she went through all right, and Fred had just crossed into the kitchen. His eyes lit up and his smile was still in place. Which was more than in a could say for herself.

"Mina, what are you doing?"

She didn't have time to respond, because she had already said her uncles address and threw down the powder. When the smoke had cleared she was no longer in the warm kitchen of the Weasley's, but instead in her uncles house. She quickly made it to the room she usually stayed in when she was here and locked the door behind her.

And only then did she let her tears fall freely.

* * *

 ** _IMPORTANT: Apparently a virus has been going around on FF . Net so everyone should be very. careful of the profiles they click on, because it's doing things from logging people out to completely shutting down their accounts. I've heard mixed things on it being fixed and not being fixed, so either way be cautious of the profiles you click on everyone._**

 ** _LESS IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE: This is one of the few scenes I had in mind when I first though to this story, and it just warms my heart to finally come to it. Hopefully you all like it, if not I throughly enjoyed writing it and that will be enough for me to power through._**


	27. Chapter 27

When Mina was sure all traces of crying were gone she slowly gathered her courage to go downstairs. Walking down the halls of her uncle's house was almost eerie. The halls were dark, in both color and lighting. And for a such a large place, she heard very little, save for the whispers of the portraits around her no doubt already gossiping about her appearance. A small frown wormed its way onto her face as she tried to block it out. At least she wasn't in pajamas, and any runny mascara had been cleared from her eyes.

Her feet padded along the carpet quietly towards the stairs, and her ears perked at the sound of her uncle's voice. She didn't recognize the other voices, but hopefully she wouldn't be causing problems. When she started to make her way down the stairs, the mere sight of her uncle brought waves of relief through her body. She had had an extremely stressful day and she wanted nothing more than to joke with him as they argued over the right amount of something a recipe needed. But quickly, that relief was replaced with confusion as she eyed the two figures facing away from the stairs.

An older man with graying hair, although by the looks of it he was in denial because he had done a terrible job at re-dying it, and a large figure, gestured exasperatedly like his life depended on it. Next to him was someone who was shorter, younger, and cuter. That much was obvious from the back.

It really was a good thing she wasn't still wearing pajamas.

Her uncle's eyes met hers and he smiled brightly. He began to gesture and she nervously ran a hand through her hair as she took the last of the stairs. She hesitated at the base, waiting to see if she needed to go hide in the library or if it was a conversation she was welcome to join. Sensing her hesitation, her uncle cleared his threat, cutting the larger man off mid conversation.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my niece, Mina," this caused the two men to turn towards her and she immediately felt more nervous, but her uncle continued. "You'll probably be running into each other a lot during your stay here as she's going to be with me for most of the summer. Mina, this is Mr. Mikhailovich and his son Nikolai."

Mr. Mikhailovich enthusiatically took her hand and shook it with such a force that the surprise showed on her face, causing Nikolai to laugh.

"Dad, cool it. I'm sure she's very pleased to meet you, but I'm also sure she likes her arm more," his smooth voice rolled, a small lilt of an accent just barely to his words, that Mina couldn't place, but when his dad spoke she knew instantly.

"Do not tell me to _'cool it',_ Nikolai. I am aware of when I am overstepping my boundaries and that was not it," a thick Russian accent answered, and his face looked expectantly to her for an answer. She watched him a second longer before catching on.

"Absolutely, Mr. Mikhailovich, you weren't overstepping. I am pleased to meet both of you."

"Bah!" he said with a wave of his hand. "You don't need to be so formal, it's something I've tried getting Tom to understand for years now. You can call me Luka," he gave a pointed look to her uncle, who didn't react, and instead looked between her and Nikolai.

"Mina's about to start her sixth year at Hogwarts, I'm sure you two will find plenty to talk about," Mina shot him a confused look, before he sighed. "Hogwarts still doesn't do a good job at talking about the other magical schools, honestly if it weren't for me you'd only think there was one wizarding school. Nikolai goes to Durmstrong, its around Romania." He paused before picking his thought back up. "I think. they're pretty secretive on where it is, but _Mr. Michailovich_ has dropped some hints about it."

She ignored her Uncle's jab at Luka, instead choosing to look at Nikolai.

Dark, short, curly hair was cropped onto his head, and a strong green pair of eyes curiously looked at her. He had an equally strong jawline, and Mina felt a little weak in the knees. He was gorgeous. Surely he could be a model if he wanted to, and Anne would not hesitate for a moment to body check her across the room in order to talk to him if she were here. But she wasn't, and instead she felt her cheeks warm slightly as his long gaze made it's way over her appearance. She willed her tongue to work, and to form any words as she tore her eyes away from him.

"What year are you?"

"I'm also a sixth year."

She nodded her head, and her uncle and his dad shared a look that she didn't like. Uncle Tom looked to her, and she narrowed her eyes at what she thought he might be trying to do.

"Mina, would you mind if Mr. Michailovich and I were to continue the rest of our discussion in the library. You and Nikolai can talk out here and get to know each other better."

Her eyes narrowed just a sliver more at the confirmation of her suspicion.

"Sure."

"Great." They all stood still for a moment, before her uncle remembered what he just said. "Well, right this way Mr. Michailovich."

"Tom, don't worry. They'll have plenty of time to get to know each other, what with the T-" they didn't hear the rest of the sentence as a small 'thwack' followed by a sharp 'ow!' sounded off as they rounded the corner. She watched where they disappeared for a moment before her eyes trailed back to Nikolai.

"What do you think that was about?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure, I've been trying to get it out of him for the past week. He hasn't cracked yet, but he will." He flashed her a bright smile, and Mina was frozen for a moment just watching him, before she blinked and remembered what her uncle had done. She slouched down into a seat, feeling a little disagreeable at the idea of being set up. He gingerly sat down across from her, as if he could feel her bad mood from where he sat.

"Kind of messed up for them to try to set us up and then act like we wouldn't notice, huh?" Maybe he did notice her bad mood. But then Mina remembered that he was also involved in this, and felt sympathetic towards him. It's not like he had any hand in this.

"Yeah."

"I mean don't get me wrong," he did a slight wave of his hand, a smaller mimic of one of the motions she had seen his dad do, "you are incredibly attractive. I would be very flattered if you liked me, but I just got out of a long relationship. It would feel weird to rebound so quickly."

He thought she was attractive? No one's ever told her she looked good before.

She shook her head for a second. "No offense taken. I-" her eyebrows furrowed for a moment, "it's complicated."

And then she remembered. It wasn't.

Fred liked Angelina. Angelina liked Fred. The only complication in the problem was her.

He sighed, taking in the look that formed onto her face. "Love sucks, doesn't it?"

Mina recoiled. "Who said anything about love?"

"You did," he let out a chuckle, and gave a small flourish of his hand as he gestured to her face," it may not have been intentional, or even verbal, but I know that look when I see it."

She crossed her arms. "It doesn't matter. I was wrong, it's not really that complicated."

He leaned forward.

"Then do tell."

Mina bit her lip, thinking, before she let out a sigh of her own.

"I like a guy who doesn't like me, it's that simple."

He sat, leaning forward, a confused look on his face. "I wouldn't say it's simple by the look on your face."

"I thought he liked me and I was wrong."

"So you confessed?"

Mina physically recoiled again. "No."

"Then how do you know?"

"He confessed to a friend of mine. She told me, despite knowing that I liked him," she crossed her arms again, as she clenched her jaw. "They're probably making out right now."

"Ah, then that is rough." He paused for a moment, before he leaned back in his seat and casually placed his hands behind his head. "I caught my boyfriend cheating on me with a guy two years younger than me."

Mina let out a low whistle. "Welcome to the pity party, population of two now."

He nodded and they sat in silence for a moment before he leaned forward again, a small, conniving look on his face.

"What would you say, if I said I had a plan to help both of our situations?"

* * *

 ** _Sorry to cut it off where it's at but I finished writing this at 1 am and I have to be up at 5am. Which isn't so bad considering the time change, but it's still rough. The reason why I have to get up so early though is because I'm going to Universal studios today... which is mostly going to be spent in Harry Potter World trying not to spend money... my wallet is already crying at the thought of dropping $10 for a chocolate frog..._**


	28. Chapter 28

"What type of plan?"

Nikolai leaned lavishly against the sofa, as if it were an expensive velvet instead of the reupholstered mess it was. Mina sat on the edge of her seat, her nerves on edge, but it seemed like he had all the time in the world.

"One that would be very beneficial to the both of us." She waited a moment, before she waved him on to continue. "It's very simple. We pretend to date."

"What?"

"I know you heard what I said. We pretend to date. We make your boo jealous, while making my ex feel like the dumpster fire that he is."

"What would you have to gain out of this?" She asked suspiciously, not willing to agree to something so quickly that might backfire.

"I wish I could say it was for the fate of your true love, but honestly I don't have much invested in that. Really, I just want to get back at my ex. Show him how little he meant to me by how quickly I can rebound. The real kicker here is that I am very much not straight, and no matter how lovely you may be, that's something I can't change. But, the look on his face when he finds out he did me so bad he turned me straight? That'll be priceless. Helping you out is just a fun little benefit."

"Let's say I do agree to this? What do you have in mind?"

"Light PDA, we go to the Quidditch World Cup together, maybe write your friends about how you met an incredibly handsome guy. That type of stuff. We can really hash it out later, if you agree to it."

Mina eyed him for a minute before smiling, and leaning back in her seat.

"I'm not going to say no," Nikolai shot up in his seat, but a hand from Mina told him to wait. "I suggest we have a grace period though. We try it out, find out if it's really something we both want to do or not, and if not we call it quits."

He nodded his head for a moment.

"Sounds good to me."

"Alright then," Mina said, wonder in her voice at the fact that she was actually going through with this plan. "Then I guess we're dating."

Nikolai flashed her a cheesy grin. "Oh? No wooing? I guess we can come up with a backstory, but that takes some of the fun out of it."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a good actor, it wouldn't be much fun."

"You completely underestimate my ability to act and carry both of us through this."

She eyed him, as he laying on the couch, taking him in for a good moment before she responded. "I don't doubt you're ability to act. It's moreso I doubt my ability to not completely ruin you're acting."

He cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh? Well, let's find out. Step one of operation fake dating..."

* * *

Mina sat at her desk, pen in hand, as she stared at the paper before her, like it would magically tell her what to write.

Maybe it would if she knew the write spell, but at the moment she was kicking herself for not listening to Hermione talk about her readings more.

Hesitantly, she brought the pen to the paper, and as she bit her lip she wrote what she hoped would be an effective letter.

 _Dear Angelina,_

 _I hope your break is going well, and that you have been able to do many fun things so far. I'm sorry how I left the last time we were together, but I was overcome with emotion. I've realized how silly I was being, and that I should just move on. In fact, I've met a really cute guy at my uncles house, and he told me he liked me, so I'm thinking that it's a sign and I should just go for it._

 _I really, truely am happy for both you and Fred, and I hope your relationship is successful!_

 _Best wishes - your friend,_

 _Mina_

She stared at it for a moment longer before stuffing it into an envelope.

Mina felt bad lying to her friend, and using her to get to Fred felt terribly dirty since she knew how happy the two were. And yet... the small, petty part of her screamed at her, no it begged her, to do it anyways. To show up the next time they all saw each other and to show off her attractive 'boyfriend' and to make them jealous.

She really did hate to be petty, but she'd be lying if it didn't make her happy too.

* * *

 ** _Hey guys! Sorry for the late update (if it even posts today). I've had to write most of this from the app on my phone because the sites been down for a while now, which is mega frustrating. We'll see if I can get it out today, but if not then now it Probsbly makes sense why it's a day late (if it is? Hopefully the sites back up later). It sadly doesn't look like there's a way to post from the app, so we're all st the mercy of ff servers on whenever they come back on._**

 ** _Anyways, I just wanna thank you all for being so kind and sweet and understanding at the fact that I post this for free in my free time, and that because of that it's obviously not going to be perfect. I posted a chapter on wattpad for a story idea I had (I'm under a different pen name on there) and someone threw a complete fit over one (1) word being misspelled, and were just overall rude to me and telling me that clearly I struggled with the language so I must be foreign (which? Is so hard to determine over the internet because what qualifies as foreign?), and it got me real heated. So I just wanted to thank you guys for being so sweet because it actually makes me want to keep putting out updates._**

 ** _Also, the chapter is going to be short because I'm writing on my birthday, and frankly I don't want to be doing that other than the fact you guys are so kind and if I break my update schedule I'm afraid I'll never keep up with this story._**


	29. Chapter 29

Mina smiled to herself as she laid in her chair. The sun felt nice against her skin, and it was surprisingly warm today. She spared a small glance to Nikolai, who was working his way intensly through a wizard magazine she wasn't familiar with, before she closed her eyes again, just taking in the peace for what it was.

She pretended to ignore the glances that surely either her aunt, uncle or Nikolai's dad were giving her from the study, despite the fact she could feel the intensity of their curious looks. Was it so weird that they tried to set her up and it worked? Well, sort of. But it got them off of both of their backs, and that was something both Nikolai and her could agree on. Not that they very too different, but Nikolai was... intense. He was vibrant and she was more of a muted tone. He planned to the extremes, like the plan involving the two of them, and it drew her out of her comfort zone. He was a lovely friend, but she would probably go insane if she were actually dating him.

"Okay," Nikolai said, putting his magazine down forcefully and rolling onto his back to look at her. "So, I've thought through this a little further?"

Mina made a noise of encouragement with a small wave of her hand.

"So, my dad likes to do these charity things each summer. They're either really boring or really fun, but usually it depends on who's invited. Tend to be pretty formal, but that's normally the only fun part of the night for me," he lifted a finger, dramatically holding it for a moment before pointing to her. "Except for this year, where we can make our incredible debut as the best couple in wizarding history."

She peaked an eyebrow open. "I have heard you talk about so many iconic wizard couples I highly doubt that."

"That's not important," he waved a hand. "What is important is appearances. So, what do you say?"

Mulling on it for a moment, she realized she had very little choice in the matter. She had already agreed to whatever shenanigans he could come up with when they had decided to do this. "Only if I can invite a friend."

He leaned back with both hands behind his head. "The more the merrier. Tell them it's formal, but really to just wear whatever they want."

"Oh, she'll be wearing a very formal dress, I'm sure," Mina said with a small smile on her face as she thought of Anne.

"Fantastic, I like her already."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Mina loudly gasped and started digging through her bag. It had taken her several books later, but eventually she pulled out a Polaroid camera.

"I can't believe I almost forgot. Here, come here."

Nikolai followed suite, more at ease after seeing the camera in her hands. They pressed their cheeks to each other and smiled widely. A bright flash went off, their picture slips out, and a few moments later they were able to see it. Mina smiled at it as Nikolai peered over her shoulder.

"Why isn't it moving?"

Mina took a moment of surprise. She was well versed with wizard pictures and art moving, but she didn't think they would be so shocked at the muggle version of it.

"It's a picture."

"I got that, but why isn't it moving? Is your camera broken?"

She smiled to herself. "No, it's not. It's a muggle camera. Pictures don't move."

He cupped it in his hands for a moment, staring at it further as if he were to look away he would miss the movement.

"That's no fun," he handed it back to her. "I don't know why I never thoguht that muggles had cameras like that, I guess I've been so stuck in the wizarding world that I've never gotten to experience it. I always just assumed that they just didn't have anything similar, in books they always seem so..."

"primitive?"

He smiled apologetically. "I guess I need newer books."

She shrugged. "No need to apologize, you were misinformed but at least you're kind about it. One day I'll take you out on a nice big muggle adventure. Maybe after we're all done with school and we can just load up in a car with friends before we all go our separate ways." Mina didn't want to even think about what she would do after Hogwarts right now. University? Interning for St. Mungo's? She'd push it off until she'd have to for sure.

"That sounds nice, I'd like that a lot."

"Great, then it's a plan. This means you're stuck with me, there's no giving me the slip just after school."

He chuckled. "Mina I wouldn't dream of it. We've known each other for such a short amount of time, but I really do cherish your friendship," he sat up straight for a moment, a small hint of humor to his voice as he looked her in the eyes. "I would die for you."

She rolled her eyes and gently hit his shoulder.

"You're so cheesy, but I do think of you as a close friend too. I'm glad we met."

They smiled at each other for a moment, before Mina slipped the picture into the nearest book to her.

Immediately she began to think about how she would write to Anne, and she knew she'd have to ask Anne's necessary hard questions before she actually got them back by owl, so as not to waste good parchment.

"So how formal is formal?"

"I don't know. I'm normally wearing a suit to these things. It says ball on the invitation if that helps. In fact, I'll have one sent to you and you're friend."

"You wearing a suit to one of these things is incredibly unhelpful. How are the women there normally dressed?"

"I don't normally pay attention to how the women are dressed, normally I'm paying more attention to the guys. But nicely? I've seem really boring holiday dresses, to all out princess dresses. Honestly, the two of you should be fine with whatever."

She nodded her head for a moment, before continuing.

"How many guests?"

His face recoiled and she knew she wouldn't like the answer. "Normally there's quite a lot of people. I know it's not your thing so we could make a great escape whenever you need to."

Mina pulled the dread off of her face for a moment.

"No, I should be fine. Anne loves having the opportunity to fall in love with as many strangers as possible, so the more the merrier."

"Oh, I think I'll like Anne then, we've got that in common."

Despite the dread she was beginning to feel at the large event approaching she smiled.

"I think she'll like you too."

* * *

 ** _Eyyyyy it's yo girl, back at it again, with another update. Currently it is 1:37 in the morning of Sunday, but I am nailing this whole being dedicated to updating thing aren't I? Yay for committing to projects and not dropping them._**

 ** _Anyways, This is my gray area of the story where I'm just kinda coming up with things as I go, I've got a plot line the second we're back on the Hogwarts express, but for now why not enjoy chaotically trying to find something to come up with._**

 ** _Also, a big shoutout to Sparkle for reviewing. This is why I love writing on this site, the community around it tends to always be so much nicer. I love all of you that review, and any notification revolving around a favorite/ follow/ review that I get throughout the day warms my heart. So thank you (Imagine a heart because ff is mean and won't let me write one out, despite the fact I have so much love for all of you)._**


	30. Chapter 30

Mina played with her necklace as she watched Anne fiddle with her hair.

Something about tonight made her incredibly anxious. She wasn't sure if it was the whole fake dating thing, or if it was the lying to everybody thing, but either way her stomach was in a bundle of knots. Anne slapped her shoulders again in a reminder for her to lower them.

She hadn't even realized she had tensed them up so much. Again.

Eyeing her reflection in the mirror she couldn't help but feel like some of her anxiety was due to her appearance. Sure, her dress was beautiful in a deep, dark red, that billowed in a way that made her look like a princess. And it shined as she twitched about, bouncing the light off of her making her look radiant. She knew the matching shoes she had looked just as good and yet... a part of her couldn't help but hate it entirely.

The dress was too tight, her shoes pinched her, and she could still make out her acne under her makeup. She winced as a pin was shoved into her hair. And there was the fact that Anne was still twisting her hair so much that she was preemptively getting a headache from how tight it would end up.

All in all, this night seemed like a night of bad ideas waiting to happen.

Anne twisted again causing Mina to wince again.

"Why the sour face?"

"You're pulling my hair. It hurts."

She rolled her eyes before twisting again, causing another hiss of pain to spill from Mina's lips.

"That's not it. You've had this face all night," she paused what she was doing to put a small frown onto her face as she scrunched her eyebrows slightly. Mina looked at her in the mirror and shifted her very similar expression, instead focusing her eyes somewhere else.

"That's definitely not the face I had."

"So you admit you were pulling a face," Anne said excitedly, and with the excitement a sharp tug of Mina's hair was felt.

"I'm pulling a face because you're yanking my hair. Let up will you?"

"We've already established that wasn't it. C'mon now. Out with it," She held up Mina's hair threateningly, as if a secret were kept any longer she wasn't afraid to have a casualty.

Mina bit her lip.

This caused Anne to let out an accusatory sound. "I knew it. Spill it."

Sighing, Mina knew she wouldn't be able to keep it any longer.

"You remember Nikolai?"

"How could I not? A very handsome boy invites you to his ball saying that you're the plus one to your very dear friend and you don't forget it. Especially with how friendly you two are," she waggled her eyebrows, making her entire pink, shiny outfit seem like it belonged on another person at a different time. Anyone other than her mischievous friend Anne.

Mina sighed again.

"That's the thing. I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to say it. We aren't dating."

"Okay, I got it. You guys haven't defined it yet. Altough when I'm done with you I swear he'll be begging you to be his girlfriend," Anne said as she cheerfully went back to Mina's hair.

"No, that's not it. We made it up."

Anne dropped her hair.

"What do you mean you made it up?"

"I mean, we made it up. It's fake. We're not dating. It's not happening."

"Why? And why wouldn't you tell me? I thought I was your best friend?" Anne took a step back, and Mina stood up and grabbed her hands, keeping her in place.

"I wasn't lying to you. Nikolai was and I just... never corrected him," Mina winced. That didn't sound any better. "It's a long story and I'm not sure if you would believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

Mina dragged her over to her bed and the two girls sat in silence in their fine clothing as she racked her brain for any way to explain.

"Nikolai went through a bad relationship. Like it ended really badly. I don't want to get into it because it's not my story to tell, but he wanted to get back at his ex in a way to say that their relationship didn't mean so much. I'm his fake rebound."

Anne nodded her head for a moment, before her eyes scrunched. "And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Mina, if there wasn't something in it for you, I highly doubt you would've agreed to it." This caused her to reflect for a moment. Was she really so vain? Surely if there wasn't anything in it for her she would've helped out a friend and yet she couldn't help but wonder... would she have thought? After all they hadn't known each other too well when they agreed to it. Anne must've known her train of thought as she quickly jumped back in. "It's not like you to jump onto something without having it planned out well. Or really to go along with something like this at all."

She played with her fingers for a moment, not daring to look at Anne, as she let out her answer in a quiet voice. "I like someone."

"Mina! That's wonderful, why didn't you just tell me that from the start we could've figured something out!"

"No, Anne." Mina drew all her courage and looked her friend in the eye. "I like someone who doesn't like me back."

She watched the emotions travel through her friend, and as tears started to well in her eyes she could see the hard look Anne finally landed on.

"Who?"

Mina sniffed. "Does it matter? He doesn't like me and the girl he likes told me all but told me they would be better off if I left them alone to be a couple and I just... I just..." Anne moved in to hug her friend as Mina was fighting a war not to ruin the makeup Anne had done so meticulously, "I just don't understand. Was I not good enough?"

"Oh, honey. Of course you're good enough."

"Then why not me. I know I'm not being fair and he should get to choose who he likes, but why couldn't it have been me?" she mumbled into Anne's shoulder as her hair was stroked, intricate hair style already forgotten.

"You can't control other people. They can be wrong, but you can't control their decisions."

They sat in silence for a while as Mina was fighting a losing battle with her mascara, and Anne didn't say a word over the makeup smearing onto her shoulder.

"Who is it?"

"It doesn't matter."

Anne pulled Mina up and looked into her eyes. "Mina, it matters to you, so it matters to me. Who is it?"

Mina looked far off to the corner of the room, biting her cheeks to stop the words that were already pouring out of her mouth.

"Fred. I like Fred."

"Fred Weasley? You like Fred and he doesn't like you?" Anne said, clearly confused, but Mina didn't catch the tone.

"Don't go after him, it doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't. I'll get over him. Just, leave him alone to be with his new _girlfriend_ ," despite Mina trying to protect them, she couldn't help the bit of venom that spit out of her mouth at the word.

"Girlfriend? Hold up. Who's that? When did all this happen?"

"Angelina. He asked her out the morning that we were sleeping over at the Burrow. You were out of town so you would've missed the news but... Anne he looked so happy that morning. And I thought, for just one moment, that maybe I had caused that."

Anne understood the rest of the words as her face dropped again.

"Look, you are so good. Any guy would be more than lucky to have your heart. This isn't something you want to hear right now, but some men are trash." Mina let out a small chuckle. "They are, really truly trash. They don't know what's good for them or what they want. I can tell you something right now, something doesn't seem right, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. But tonight? We're going to get you cleaned up, and then we're going to go have so much fun that we're going to drive the adults crazy. And then after that, when we're all ready for bed, I'll let you put on some of your muggle movies on and we can talk about how bad they are."

"Really?" Mina's voice wobbled.

"Really. Now c'mon. First step of that is to get you cleaned up. We can't have you looking disgruntled before your prince comes to get you."

Mina smiled brightly at her friend.

"Oh what would I do without my great fairy godmother?"

"Probably lose your shoe on the stairs. Now come on, we've got a lot of work we need to do."


	31. Chapter 31

"There are my two favorite girls," Nikolai's voice carried down the hall, drawing the attention of a few party goers. His hair was impeccable and his suit, while rather conservative, was detailed with red along the seams that made him seem like the person to talk to.

Anne gave him a bright smile, although the teasing tone to her voice was hard to miss.

"You barely know me. How could I possibly be one of your favorite girls?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Favorite girls right now anyways." Mina smiled, glad they were carrying the conversation so far, not quite ready to be jumping into it. "And don't you both look marvelous. Give us a spin why don't you."

They both followed suit, although Mina more reluctantly, before coming to a stop. Nikolai clapped his hands, a broad smile on his face. He held out an arm to both of them, and escorted them into the swing of the party.

Mina had honestly never thought a room could hold so many people.

Sure, she had been in the Great Hall at the beginning of the year, but somehow the sheer mass of people felt like it outdid that. Or maybe it was just their egos filling up all the room. She was having a hard time telling. Either way, she smiled as they made their way around the room, trying to match any of the name that Nikolai was whispering to any of the faces she was seeing. Quite Frankly, it was all becoming one big blur. That is, until she laid eyes on Angelina.

She had missed whatever reason Nikolai had given for her being there, but it took Anne loudly whispering 'Is that Angie?' to knock her out of it. She sent Anne a look, and she quickly dropped the arm she was holding, and Nikolai seemed to pick up real quick on what was happening.

"Angelina," she turned, a shocked expression on her face not only at seeing Mina, but even more at the guy whose arm she was on. "Hi."

"Oh my gosh, Mina! It's so good to see you," Angelina excitedly screeched, as if it was hard to hear in the room and the matter of getting her words across were life or death. She went in for a hug and Mina awkwardly hugged her back. She pulled away quickly, but she hoped not too quickly. "So who's this?"

"This," Mina sent her new friend a quick warning with her strong gaze, before beaming at Angelina again, "is my boyfriend, Nikolai. Nikolai this is Angelia, we go to school together."

"Hi," she wasn't entirely too certain, but Mina was beginning to feel like Angelina had an ulterior motive here. If not to see if she had been bluffing on moving on, then she had a good enough feeling on the way she was currently batting her eyelashes. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

A true hero, Nikolai smiled and stuck a hand out for her to shake, before draping his arm loosely across Mina's waist. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Mina's been telling me so much about her friends at school."

"Speaking of which, Anne's also here." Mina poked her head behind Nikolai's tall figure hoping that she hadn't lost her friend, and when she made eye contact she jerked her head. "Anne come over here and say hi to Angelina."

Anne waved, but it was evident something was off by the way she was unusually quiet. Hopefully Angelina would miss it. Telling by the way she looked at Nikolai as if he brought the sun up every morning, she had a feeling she did.

"Well, it's so nice to see you guys. And you're boyfriend," Angelina's eyes hungrily grazed over Nikolai's body, and Mina leaned into him and placed a hand on his chest.

"Speaking of boyfriends, how are you and Fred?" Mina was mean. Really, truly, she was wicked in subjecting her friends to this. But the look of shock that overcame Angelina's face made everything worth it.

"Hrm? Oh, yes, Fred. We're good. He's fine. Still in Egypt with his family." Angelina was back to smiling at Nikolai, so Mina decided to push it a little more.

"That's good to hear. Long distance can be such a bother, especially when you've just started out your relationship," this finally caught her attention, and the happy, sunshine-y smile she had morphed into a straight face.

"Nope, that's not the case with us. We're just doing so great."

"Great."

'Great."

"Great," Nikolai cut in, unable to stand the tension in the air. "Well, it was lovely to see you, but I'm afraid the job of a host is never done."

"You host these parties?" Angelina said in awe.

"Yep. Every year. Well, my uncle does. But, we've got to go make our way around the rooms and all. Hopefully we can catch up later though." He tugged Mina through the crowd and Anne slowly trailed after them, but they hadn't made it too far away that they were still able to make out Angelina's response.

"I look forward to it."

Nikolai was right, they were going to make their rounds around the room, but Mina held back a snicker as he complained about her.

"Mina, it's like the girl has never seen a guy before. Are you sure you don't go to an all girls school? Because that would clear things up."

"Pretty sure we've got guys at Hogwarts, though I could check when we get back that it's not just an illusion spell," he ignored the smile on her lips as he seriously nodded.

"Good, because I could barely stand her. How do you tolerate someone who's completely intolerable?"

Anne popped her head in between theirs, a hand on each of their shoulders to steady herself, a smart reply on her lips as she was already beginning to work out what in Merlin's name was going on.

"We don't."

* * *

 _ **This one's gonna be short because I wrote a 7 page paper this week and honestly I'm just about sick of writing at the moment. But, I will push through for the sake of a consistent updating schedule. Although, at the moment, I've got just a vague recollection of what I wrote last week, so if things don't add up 100 percent please just bear with me, as I can always fix it in the rewrite.**_

 _ **Hope everyone's thanksgivings were well, and if you're not American hopefully you just had a good week last week.**_

 _ **Anyways as we're going into the holiday season I just want to wish you all well, and I hope that any interactions with family are as unstressful as can be.**_


	32. Chapter 32

Sighing, Mina knew what she had to do.

This whole idea had turned out poorly, and even though she felt some satisfaction at seeing Angelina at the party, it didn't do much to alleviate her stress over their deal. She just didn't know how to tell Nikolai. And better yet, she didn't know how to tell him without him taking any offense to it.

Which is why when he came into the living room excitedly, she didn't notice him.

Only when he was two feet away from her face did her eyes finally drift up to his. She jumped up to her feet, her anxiety rising with her.

"You will not believe what our uncle's managed to get tickets for," he beemed at her, hands hidden behind his back but his face showing that it was something he was particularly eager for. Mina raised an eyebrow at him, and this was all the encouragement he needed befroe bringing his hands in front of her in a hurry. "It's the quidditch World Cup, we've got tickets for the quidditch World Cup."

Mina smiled at him, although not nearly enough to show she was truly enthusiastic. He took this look in, and sighed.

"Don't tell me you don't like quidditch."

"No. No, that's not it. I like quidditch a lot, in fact, I play it. I just," she twiddled her fingers in front of her, and when she saw his eyes watching them she drew them behind her back. She let out a nervous sigh. "We need to talk."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow to her as she guided him to sit on the couch.

"I don't think we should do this anymore. Pretend to date. It's just, stressing me out a lot, and I feel like I'm lying to all of my friends and I don't like that a whole lot."

He stared at her for a moment longer, with an intense gaze that Mina shifted uncomfortably under anxiously. He started to laugh.

"You made it sound like you were dying. Mina if you don't want to do this, you shouldve said so earlier. I'll be honest, I was starting to think the same thing. My ex isn't even worth it, I can do so much better at him that I realized I don't even care what he thinks. What I do care for my friends," he took a pause, before his eyes widdened. "We can still be friends, right?"

It was Mina's turn to laugh.

"Of course, I wouldnt dream of telling you that I didn't want to be your friend."

Nikolai jumped to his feet in a hurry.

"Great, because it just so happens I have a spare ticket for a friend curtesy of our two meddlesome uncles," he held to ticket out to her, and she smiled as she stood.

"Well, it would be a shame for it to go to waste."

"It really would."

"And I do like quidditch."

"Something I am shocked you never told me, but we can talk about it later."

She took the ticket from his hand, and stared at it for a moment, before widley smiling at him.

"I'll go. Now, who do you think is going to win?"

Nikolai threw an arm around her shoulder, leading her off. "For that, let me redirect you to my extensive research."

"You mean, the scores you've been keeping?"

"Shush, my extensive research."

* * *

Anne sat in her own room, still thinking about the party. Somethings didn't quite add up.

She was certain that Fred was head over heels in love with Mina. When they were back at school, if someone would have asked her about them, she would've said it was only a matter of who would ask the other out first. But now, she wasn't too sure.

Mina said that Fred had asked Angelina to be his girlfriend.

It just seemed off.

All the times she had seen the two interact, he was burshing her off in order to go talk to Mina, or literally any other person. And who did Mina hear this information from? Angelina of all people? She knew the two were friendly, but Anne didn't think they were so close to have Angelina tell her about it.

Unless...

Anne took a breathe, and started from the beginning.

She knew Fred and Mina liked each other. Everyone except for those two could see it. Apparently, Angelina likes Fred if she said she agreed to date him. She told Mina... who rushed off, leaving Angelina to be with Fred and for Mina to be in the mess she currently was in with Nikolai.

The pieces were starting to fall in place, and while she still needed more information to know for sure, what she did know is that she would protect Mina's heart at all costs.

* * *

 _Dear Fred,_

 _Sorry it's been a while since my last letter, I've just been so swamped recently. In fact, I'll only be able to write so much right now, but I'll be sure to send another letter after this when I get more time._

 _I went with my uncle to this unbelievable party with so many people that I'm sure I wouldn't be able to recognize any of them if I saw them again. They all wore so many amazing outfits, and the food was divine, but your not reading this for those, I know._

 _You would not believe who I saw, with a boyfriend at this._

 _I'll give you a hint: her friend Anne was trailing her around the party._

 _Annyways, hopefully you don't have to wait long for my next letter, but I've been so terribly busy. I guess you'll just have to live with a little cliff hanger for now._

 _Your dearest friend,_

 _Angelina_

* * *

Fred stared at the letter in shock. He read it a second time. A third. A fourth. His brain refused to process it. His breathing grew heavy, before he crumled the letter up and threw it across the room, before curling himslef into a ball.

It couldn't be true.

He thought... he thought that he stood a chance.

He thought maybe, just maybe, that she might like him.

He was so certain of it before he had left for his trip. What had happened in that time?

Maybe it wasn't Mina, maybe Anne had another close friend who Angelina knew. It was a bad time to be in denial, but he didn't want to think of the alternative.

That Mina had found someone better than him. Someone she deserved, who could treat her well. Someone who she genuinely liked.

His heart broke.

He hadn't even notice the tears coming, until it was too late. Mina didn't like him, and was dating another guy. He no longer stood a chance with the girl of his dreams. He startled at a knock on his door, and hurridely brushed the tears off his face as a ginger head popped into the door.

"Fred, mum says it's time for dinner. She says dad has something to say, but I'm pretty sure that it's because he managed to get tickets for quidditch World Cup," Ginny waited a moment, before looking at her brother and taking in his appearance. He looked frazzled. Clothes messy, eyes red, and all by himself in the corner of the room.

"I'm not hungry, just say that I'm not feeling good and went to bed."

She watched as he turned his back to hers, and she knew something was wrong. She was going to ask, but a peice of paper on the floor drew her attention. She unraveled it, and read it. This answered her question, but it raise roughly a thousand more. Something wasn't right, but she wasn't going to voice her concerns to her brother in the state that he was in. Ginny tucked the paper into her waistband to inspect later, and quietly left, closing the door behind her.

Fred sat in the corner of his room, for an unknown amount of time, as the sun slowly set. Alone, believing that he wasn't loved.

* * *

 ** _Forgot it was update day and frantically realized I hadn't written anything this week. Hope you all enjoy because we're just starting to get the ball rolling here._**


	33. Chapter 33

_Portkeys should be made illegal,_ Mina thought to herself on wobbly feet, desperately trying to hold onto her breakfast.

Sure, it had made the trip so much quicker than any other form of travel, but at what cost? She glanced to Anne and her mom, both of who had just barely managed to trip over one another, and another glance to Nikolai and his dad who looked as if they had just gone for a stroll in the park. her uncle placed a hand on her shoulder to ask if she was alright, and she barely managed a nod. Pretty quickly, the grounds of that people had claimed in order to be as close to the arena for the Qudditch World Cup.

She had never seen so many tents, or for that matter people, cramped into such a tiny space. Waves of green and red seemed to come and go as everyone had wanted to represent their favorite teams. People seemed to dance around each other as they went about their day, just barely managing to let out various chants for their team of choice as they moved along. Chants for different teams cried over each other, as well as various different chants for the same team. Overall, it was all very chaotic, but Mina couldn't help the grin making it's way on her face. She had never been around so many people who all enjoyed quidditch.

Anne excitedly bumped into her.

"Im so excited," Mina cast her a sideways glance, knowing her friend had never been all that into qudditch. "Look at all the pretty people who are here!"

Mina let out a loud laugh at the cheeky look on Anne's face, and Nikolai hopped into the conversation.

"So, we've got a couple of days to kill before the game. Right now I think the plan is to go set up the tent and try not to get run over."

"Solid plan."

They slowly made their way to their assigned spot, Anne and Mina both clung to each other for fear of being lost in the crowd, and slowly they moved out of the crowd. Her uncle had to shoo some kids off of the plot, who had been lazing about in the open area, and Mina vaguely recognized them as being from Hogwarts before they disappeared into the crowd. It was Nikolai's dads time to step forward, as he pulled a very small object out of his pocket and placed it on the ground.

Mina scrunched her eyebrows.

Where was their tent? Surely this small purple box couldn't be it?

But she watched him press a small button, and quickly pulling everyone back to a certain distance, safely observed the tent rising on it's own. Mina couldn't help the giddy grin on her face. Magic was so cool. Walking through the tent only reaffirmed that feeling.

Stepping into the small tent, Mina felt that however big it was there was no way it could be big enough for all of them to fit so comfortably, yet she quickly saw that she was wrong.

A big open living room was the first thing that she had seen, followed by a large kitchen. She could feel Anne on her back "ooh"ing at everything as they passed by it. Then came a the first hallway. This one had two huge rooms, with a bathroom in each one. She figured somehow, these would go to their older relatives, although she didn't want to picture how her uncle and Nikolai's dad would share a room. A brief image of her uncle being kicked off the bed flitted into her head, but she quickly kicked it out.

She moved along the the other hallway. Here were two more rooms, with a conjoined bathroom. Anne squealed and ran into one, and Mina rolled her eyes but followed. She dropped her bag on the floor when she realized Anne had dropped her own, before she had jumped and landed on the bed with a big 'plop'. Her eyes roamed over the space. It had a large bed, which now had an Anne on it, two side tables beside the bed, and large rug on the floor. Against the wall oppostie the bed was a small makeup vanity, a dresser, and a bookshelf full of books. By the window were two chairs and a small table.

"Mina, I might just live here forever. This is amazing!"

"You're idea of a good house, is us sharing a room?" she teased back, but made the way to a comfy looking seat by the window. She melted into it, and felt like she could die happy.

"You know what I mean," Anne had rolled over, and was now making duvet angels.

Nikolai glanced into the room for a moment, his eyes traveling over Mina comfortably in the chair to Anne who was probably going insane, before he dipped out of the room again. Mina sunk further into her chair. _His loss,_ she thought. If she could marry furniture, she would. She was going to read so much in this chair.

He popped back into the bedroom, and casually leaned against the doorframe.

"If you're going to ask me to move away from this chair, the answer is no."

Anne threw her hand in the air. "Ditto."

He let out a small laugh. "I'm glad you like it. My dad's work supplies us with a tent each year. Fully furnished, but I think they're finally done testing out themes. We almost didn't manage the year the theme was small. My shoulder _still_ hurts from how I had to sleep on the ground."

"Oh boo hoo, you had to sleep on the ground? Sounds terrible," Anne said sarcastically, before her hand went to the bed in a hurry. "Don't take this away."

He simply rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't me sleeping on the ground that was the issue. It was the fact we were with friends who had a terrible plot, and we ended up on literal rock." Mina let out a 'hm' from the corner, to caught up in lounging in order to give him an actual answer. "Anyways, I think the plan is to do some unpacking and then we'll make some food, in like an hourish." He took their nods as answer enough, and then left.

"Mina?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I've died and gone to wizard heaven, because this is all I want for now and ever."

Mina stroked the chairs soft fabric. It wasn't all she wanted. She wanted to many things, most of which involved feelings and but for now, a nice chair for her to read in was a start.

* * *

 ** _Happy Holidays! My week has been packed I almost had no time to write this, but I managed to squeeze just a little bit of time for it. The holidays can be hectic, but hopefully for you all it's fun and very little drama happens with family (because honestly that one's the most important). Hope you all get to celebrate with the people in your life who you love, or if your holiday has already past that you had a good time and that it was joyful. I have to do oh so much baking today and at this point I'm just stalling._**

 ** _Be good all, and spread joy this season._**


	34. Chapter 34

Ajsjdj

mina and nikolai and fred and Angie run in

anne and ginny run into each other and start investigating things

"So then, his girlfriend and the girl that he had been stringing along looked at each other, before they took his milkshake and dumped it over his head. I think they're dating now."

"That's the dream," Anne said in a daze.

Nikolai was working his way through what he had just discovered that had happened to his ex, and he was reveling in it. The gleam of excitement in his eyes told Mina that she should never wrong him, and she was only just slightly terrified of I'm in the moment.

"I wish they got pictures of it though," he let out a lazy sigh. "That's something I would wallpaper onto a wall."

The three wandered about the campgrounds with nothing in mind, other than to cause just enough trouble, but not so much trouble that they get caught. So far, the three of them had managed to steal a cupcake from a woman who had an entire plate of them, and steered drunk people in the wrong direnction when they wanted to start a fight.

They had just set their eyes on a kid who Mina and Anne knew from school, but Mina's eyes found more people and her eyes widdened before she flipped around and ducked behind something. She had just barely mananged to drag her friends with her.

"What is going on?"

"Nothing," Mina's voice answered in a high pitch, her hand in her hair fiddling with it. Her friends looked at each other with raised eyebrows, before they turned back to her with determination on their features.

"Mina?"

"Mhm?"

"If I turn this corner I'm not going to see anything, am I?"

"Nope," the high pitch returned.

Anne put on a show of walking out from behind the corner as Mina watched her with wide eyes, before she dragged her back around the corner.

"Alright you got me," she chewed on her lower lip as Anne and Nikolai loked at her expectantly, "Angelina is around the corner," there was another pause, and her voice came out much quieter this time. "And Fred."

"And?"

"And, I don't want to run into them."

Anne raised an eyebrow. "Why would that be?"

This time Mina gave her friend a pointed look. "Because they're dating and I don't want to see them all couple-y and gross."

"Well, you know what we should do then?" Nikolai asked. "We should go out there and pretend to run into them, and what you're going to do is pretend that it doesn't bother you."

"But I don't want to do the pretending to date thing anymore, you know that."

"I'm not saying you do that. What I'm saying is you go out there and have some genuinely good time with some friends and to just run into people from school."

Mina seemed to mull it over for a minute before she nodded her head. With all the strength she could manage she rounded the corner with her friends and almost ran straight into Fred's chest.

She let out an apology, and when she looked up Fred's eyes seemed to light up. His eyes trailed over to Anne and then soured when they landed on Nikolai.

"Oh hey, what are the odds of running into you guys here?" She ignored Fred's mood upon seeing her, hoping that he wasn't upset at her for having interrupted his date. Angelina moved until she was an inch away from him, and only then did Mina make out ginny behind them. She smiled at her, before moving on to introduce her friends. "Nikolai this is Fred and his sister Ginny. You already met Angelina. You guys, this is Nikolai."

The air was so tense she wanted to hold her breath for fear of choking on it. She watched Fred and Nikolai eye each other up, before Nikolai threw a charming smile on his face and a hand out in front of him. "It's so nice to meet you, Mina is always talking about her friends from school." She ignored the bite to 'friends'. Fred looked at his hand for a minute, and just as Nikolai was about to put it down, he took it and shook it. Anne caught Ginny's eyes, and they seemed to have a conversation of their own as they tried to tell each other what was going on.

"Where do you go to school then?"

"Durmstrong,"Mina wasn't sure, but she thought he might have been playing up his accent a little at the moment, as he finally sounded a little more like his dad in the moment. He elbowed her, and gave her a cheesy grin. "Mina has been telling me so much about school, I can only imagine how lovely Hogwarts is."

"Mhm," Fred sounded and looked bored.

"Well," Anne cut in after the silence grew longer than a minute. "We should get going, but we'll catch up with you guys later at some point, yeah?"

Everyone let out variations of enthusiasm at this, but Ginny nodded her head knowing she was going to have to run into Anne at some point to figure out what just happened.

The trio left, and Fred and Angelina started walking away, as Ginny trailed behind them. Angelina leaned into him and whispered in his ear.

"That's Mina's boyfriend." His hands clenched.

His worst fears had just been confirmed.

* * *

 ** _I was so productive yesterday guys, I cleaned and went through so many things. Although I created a cardinal sin in terms of being a bookworm - I reorganized my bookshelf so it's in a color gradient._**

 ** _I can feel the shuddering from here, but this bookshelf in particular is more for display, despite being packed with books, and I very rarely find myself pulling things off of this one. Before I had things clumped by author (not alphabetized definitely not because I'm lazy and kept telling myself I would get around to it eventually) because I am shört and I wanted the authors who I liked more withing hands reach. I've got another bookshelf I keep favorites and vintage books on and that one is organzied by author, but it's a smaller shelf with about a hundred less books, so it's easier to do._**

 ** _How do you guys organize your bookshelves? Do you ever struggle when getting a new book to wiggle room for it on your shelf? That's what started this whole mess. I got the Six of Crows duo-logy and some other books for Christmas (I've already read but now I've got a physical copy of them) and I had to do some massive mental Tetris over it, hence the bookshelf redo._**

 ** _Once again, I hope your holidays are going well, and that you all get all the books on your wish lists._**


	35. Chapter 35

Mina could not think of a worse thing than being in the Weasley tent this early in the morning, with Nikolai by her side and her uncle talking to Mr. Weasley about anything and everything.

She could feel the glares of hate and disappointment from her spot in the room. If looks could kill, she was sure she'd have been dead before she even set foot in the tent. She was sure she'd barely ever said one word to Ron, so why then was he going in on George and Fred looking at her like that? And why did Ginny just look sad as she kept her distance? Mina, was truly beginning to feel isolated, and she was beginning to want to say 'screw quidditch' and just go home right this minute. Even Hermione and Harry to a certain extent, although both of them just seemed a little confused about Ron pulling them away more than anything.

Most of the Weasley siblings gave her no acknowledgement though, and she supposed she would rather have that any day of the week than the glares she was getting. Percy was in a happy little daze as he blabbered on with the parents, more so to Nikolai's dad once he found out he held a government position, about the great feats he'd accomplished at Hogwarts. Mina stood and listened, completely and utterly bored, and a glance to Nikolai told her the same about him. _This is it, this is what it feels like to be Percy. I'm really at the bottom of the barrel now._

The thought hit her so quickly and it only managed to bum her out.

Percy was... well, Percy was annoying, and irritating, and a bit of a twat. But at least he had friends who liked him. A thought hit her in horror.

 _I'm worse than Percy and I don't even know why._

Nothing managed to make her feel worse than that. Although, to say she didn't know why was maybe a little lie. She was pretty sure it involved a little lie about her and Nikolai. But she hadn't introduced herself to Fred and Angelina with him as her boyfriend? But then why else the cold shoulder?

Angelina.

She must've told Fred.

Mina knew it had been a bad idea to go through with the whole fake dating thing, although she hadn't known it would come back to bite her like this. But she was still confused. Why would everyone be angry at her for 'dating' Nikolai, if she was the one who had been hurt. Fred didn't like her, that much was obvious by now. And it's not like she had tried to get in between him and Angelina. In fact, with the help of his brother's looks, she'd been giving him a wide berth. So then why was she the villain all of a sudden? She just couldnt put everything together. It was like a puzzle, except she was missing half the pieces and the picture for it.

But if not that, then what else could she have possibly done to warrent such looks? They looked at her with such fierce hate, like she had told their mom she hated their cooking and then went outside and stole their dog. Was it really such a crime to just be dating someone?

Now Mina was starting to get angry.

All of this, just because they thoguht she was dating someone? Did they not approve? Did they think she should be dating someone from Hogwarts? Why did they even care who she dated. She wasn't even dating him for Merlin's sake, but she knew she'd defend Nikolai to the ends of the Earth if their problems with her involved him. If they ever stopped their childish act of glaring, and actually talked to her about it, she would let them slander her character, but not his. He'd done nothing wrong to get this behavior from them.

She knew, that while she judged them for not talking to her, she wouldn't make much of an effort. Not after the small snubs they'd been giving her all afternoon. Yet, a thought hit her.

 _Is this how my friendship ends with all of them? Them refusing to talk to me, and me refusing to try._

It was wrong. This whole situation was wrong. Maybe she would let them blow off steam. Avoid them all week, and then try to break the ice again on the train ride back to school. If they were still angry then, well, she was sure Aidan and Anne would welcome her with open arms and comfort her after Anne had said some mean words about them. She hoped it wouldn't come down to it, but if that's what did, she would just have to live with it.

There was no point in living a miserable life, she would just have to make the best of it.

The Universe seemed to listen to her change in attitude, because almost immedately Percy turned to her. "And what are you're plans for after Hogwarts?"

Maybe she would just have to live the way Percy did. Throw herself into academics in the persuit of bettering herself.

 _I'm on the same ring as Percy now._

She took a breath and smiled. If they wanted to hear her talk, she would. She would be pleasant and nice. And it didn't hurt that she was able to talk about the maybe, just maybe, working at St. Mungo's in the future.

* * *

 _ **Thank you guys for the lovely reviews! I want to address a review that said Angelina was a bit out of character.**_

 ** _I realize I'm making Angelina like way, way OOC but when I first started writing I was worried I'd have too many OC's bouncing around at one point and wanted to use a character from the story in that part, but I'm starting to reconsider that. Because Angelina is like, way OOC. But, I'll probably finish writing the story with her that way, and after I'm done writing and I've gone to edit and rewrite some things I think I'll completely replace her with an OC_** ** _there._** ** _(I'd fix it now, but honestly I'll prob just confuse myself.)_**

 ** _Until then, we'll just have to put up with an OOC Angelina. Sorry bout that._**


	36. Chapter 36

Looking around at all the other quidditch fans in the stands as Mina was waiting to make her way tugged at her heart a little.

Sure she had been around all the other members of her team, but this felt different. All the people around her were all different from one another, and yet they came together over their love of the sport. She watched as a grandmother gave a small flag to her grandson, and she found she was having a hard time of fighting off her smile, despite the crowd they were currently making their way through before making it to their seats.

Pushing her way past people, she slowly followed her uncle, as Nikolai trailed behind her. Despite the noise and the crowd, her mood was starting to lift for the first time all week. _Maybe I'm finally getting over Fred._ She laughed at a joke Nikolai yelled to her, spirits high, before she almost ran straight into her uncle's back as they began to make their way into the box they were seated at. Her eyes made their way over red and her good mood plummeted below the ground.

Of course the one booth they'd be in had the only person she was actively trying to avoid.

Judging by their high spirits, they hadn't noticed she was standing at the corner of the booth, mentally coming up with a way to back out. Her uncle, clearly unable to read any body language, called back to her.

"C'mon Mina, our seats our over her by the Weasley's," he gave a small wave of his hand, before turning and greeting Mr. Weasley. Niklolai's dad squeezed past them ignoring the accusatory looks being sent their way, the high spirits of the Weasley's having fallen.

"Great," she muttered sarcastically, feet still firmly planted by the door. Nikolai placed a comforting hand onto the small of her back. She took a breath and moved forward, hoping the number of her ticket would be far away from them. Clearly, fate was not on her side. There was her number, right next to Fred's seat. Time slowed down. Her feet dragged. Her mind screamed. But eventually, she made it to her seat. Carefully she sat down, like she was afraid she'd startle him if she moved too quickly.

"Hi."

"Hi."

A look of surprise crossed his face, before he gave her a smile that made her think that the silent treatment was all in her head. She felt Nikolai sit next to her, and as Fred's eyes drifted over to him, his smile grew tight. His eyes held an emotion that she couldn't identify, and as they drifted back over to her and he gave her another tight smile. She gave him one in return and they both turned back to face the field, despite the fact that there was nothing happening. The air was awkward. It would be dumb to label it as anything other than that. Nikolai leaned over her, a hand extended to Fred.

"It's good to see you again man," slowly, Fred grabbed his hand and shook it, before looking back at the field. Nikolai raised an eyebrow before looking to her. He leaned in to her ear, in order to whisper. "Warm welcome," he said sarcastically. "Are you sure this is the guy you like?"

Mina gave him a smile that was still forced, but it held a little more of a sad look to it. When she glanced over at Fred he was clearly trying to avoid looking back at her, his arms taught with tension. She bit her tongue.

She would not yell at her friend over his bad attitude.

Taking in a calming breath, she turned back to him with a smile on her face. "So, who are you rooting for?"

He turned to her, and took a moment to mull over his words. "Not so much rooting for anyone. We've got a bet." Mina rasied her eyebrow, urging him on with a tilt of her head. "We think Ireland is going to win, but that Bulgaria is going to get the snitch."

A laugh slipt out of her mouth. "The odds of that happening are slim, why make a bet on it?"

"Why not?" he said with a shrug of his shoulders. A smile began to work it's way on his lips. "And what about you, who are you hoping will win?"

"Hopefully, Ireland. But if they don't win I can be talked into being a fan of Bulgaria."

It was his turn to laugh.

Finally, it felt like things were going back to normal. They smiled at one another, clearly both feeling more at ease with one another. Maybe it was actually all in her head. She was awkward with him and so he was awkward back. Maybe she had just imagined it all.

"You've both lost it. Bulgaria's going to win."

The comfort ran out of the air with Nikolai's words, and Mina felt like she was scrambling to save the conversation. "You say that just because you like Victor Krum," she gave him a smile as she teased him.

"I'd hope that I'd like him seeing as we go to school together."

"What's that like?" Fred asked, trying like Mina to save an ounce of the conversation.

"Well," Nikolai took a moment, "it's a lot of the professors playing favorite with him. Other than that, he's just a normal guy. Who happens to have swarms of girls around him who try to get his attention. But a normal guy."

Fred nodded his head, and Mina turned to Nikolai. "I didn't know you two went to school together."

"There's a lot you don't know about me still."

She glanced back to Fred, and knew that despite their efforts, all comfort in the conversation had disappeared. She watched his eyes dart between both of them, a small frown working it's way onto his face.

"Where's Angelina?" Mina asked, finally realizing the girl wasn't here.

"She's with her family."

"Ah."

Leaning back against her seat, she realized the position she was in. To her left was the guy she liked, unavailable to her romantically and currently emotionally. To her right was her friend, who she impulsively thought a fake relationship with him would solve everything. As she slouched, it was clear to her that she'd made the wrong decision. She'd rather be single and wallowing in her misery. Although, wasn't that what she was currently doing? She had called off their fake relationship. It hadn't changed anything. Fred was still with Angelina. She was still alone. Mina felt her loneliness wrapped around her, like a snake killing its prey.

Sparing Fred another glance she wasn't sure what she meant by it.

Maybe she hoped he would start the conversation back up. But he sat leant forward, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together as his eyes stayed glued to the field. The sun shone down on him, glinting off his hair and caressing his cheek. She watched him a moment longer, and just as she was about to move her eyes to the field he shifted and a bit of red and gold peaked out from under his shirt.

Her necklace.

He was still wearing it.

Mina's heart thumped.

Surely he wouldn't still be wearing it if he didn't want to be friends with her. The fact that he still wore it even after their exams must mean something. Even if it meant there was the smallest glimmer of hope, she would grasp onto it. Anything to lessen the hold loneliness had on her heart. Unless if he actually thought it was just a good luck charm. Then it would mean nothing to him to continue wearing it. She felt the chill start to work it's way back to her heart. If he was still wearing it because it might be lucky, then it had nothing to do with her. _Maybe he wanted luck in his relationship with Angelina._ She could feel herself growing upset, and she didn't want to stop it. She wanted to yell at him and demand him to give it back, to cry and ask why he had been giving her the cold shoulder. More than anything, she just waned her friend back.

In the end, she didn't do anything, other than occasionally let her eyes drift back to it. An impulsive decision had landed her in a fake relationship with Nikolai and that hadn't made her happy. Why would another impulsive decision have a different impact?

And when Ireland won, but Bulgaria had caught the snitch, and Fred was cheering with his brother she let out a smile. Let him keep it. If it was lucky, then he deserved it. Even if it made her unhappy.

* * *

 _ **Thank you guys so much for all the love you give this story! I'd like to address a review about my chapters being short.**_

 _ **My chapters are normally around 1k-5k words, although lately they've been around 1k. I figure this way if I'm busy in a month you guys are getting at least 3k words from me in a month(updates are on Sundays normally around mid-dayish PST). I might try to push my self a little more since lately my chapters have been around 1k per update, but I don't think I'll go back to putting out 5k chapters for a while. I've had a lot going on, and while writing helps, sometimes I just don't have too much energy for it (but I won't miss an update, I've been on such a good schedule you'll get at least something from me once a week. I've got my eyes set on finishing this and that's so exciting!)**_

 _ **But on another note, how do you guys feel now that we're officially in Goblet of Fire **_**_territory? I'm pretty pumped, I've got some awesome stuff planned, and a lot of planning I still need to do. I figure we'll be back to Hogwarts in the next couple of chapters depending on how much I can fit in each chapter._**

 ** _Okay that's it, love you all lots, and thanks for reading._**


	37. Chapter 37

The cold air nipped gently at Mina's arms as she walked past tents full of celebration. People ran past her cheering for the Irish, their flags and banners trailing behind them as they skipped about. Their laughs carried their way to Mina's ears even after they were long gone. She was begginging to feel more like the Bulgarian fans. Trailing their feet, muttering to themselves with a drink in their hand. Minus the drink part, that was her. She just couldn't shake the fact that her friendship with Fred was on the rocks, and she didn't know how to save it.

Well, she did. It'd involve talking to him about it, and she was too proud, and only a little too anxious, to do that.

If she ignored the problem long enough, surely it would go away. That's how it worked, right? Or maybe Fred would be the first to come talk to her about it considering how he was the one who had whatever problem with her. Yeah, that's what she'd do. She would wait until he confronted her about whatever was bugging him. Especially since the last time she tried to solve her problems head on she ended up in the Nikolai relationship mess for a month.

Mina rolled her shoulders, hoping that the tension that had been growing there since the beginning of the summer would disappear instantly. It didn't happen, and the tension remained. A constant reminder of her problems and the fact that she didn't know how to deal with them. She gave up, and instead focused on kicking a rock as she walked, begging her mind to stop running. Until a long mess of red hair ran straight into her. She reached out to steady whoever had run into her, only to see Ginny's face. Her eyes were wide, and it was hard to miss the look of frantic terror that ran though her expression. She had never seen Ginny look like this before, and it scared her. Especially when she started pulling her along.

"Ginny what's wrong? What's going o-," Mina was cut off as she heard a loud pop. The laughter and skipping that she had been ignoring had morphed into screams and people running towards them. No, not towards them. Away from something. Fear washed over her as she tightened her hold on Ginny, and began to move with the crowd so they wouldn't be trampled. Another pop sounded from the direction where everyone was running. A spark of fireworks lit up the sky, and Mina's hand grew clammy.

The dark mark.

She let out a curse, and tried to get her expression under control. the last thing she needed to do was freak Ginny out anymore than she already was. Mina began to tug on Ginny, picking a direction away from the already frantic crowd. More pops sounded, and Ginny's hold on her became iron clad. Mina frantically reached down for her wand, where it lay hidden in her sock. Her hand became erratic, suddenly worried that she had left it at the tent, until her hand felt it. It was illegal for her to use magic outside of school, but she would face whatever charges if she survived the evening. Right now her priority was keeping Ginny safe and finding a place where they wouldn't be found. She pulled her wand out, and gripped it as tightly as her hold on Ginny. It was her lifeline and she would sooner be damned than lose it.

They made their way quickly, keeping an eye out for anyone following before they stopped shortly behind a tent. It was mostly hidden, but Ginny needed a moment to catch her breath and Mina wasn't cruel. Scared out of her mind? Yes, but not cruel. Until a rustling sound came from behind her. Quickly Mina grabbed a hold of Ginny and pulled her behind and tried to cover her as much as possible. Curses ran through her mind as she had her wand out in front of her, her eyes scanning the motion for a threat. It felt like forever, and just as she was about to turn to Ginny, someone popped out from behind the tent. Her hand tightened and she opened her mouth, ready to put up a dying fight to keep Ginny safe. But then she looked closer. And the red hair and freckles were familiar. Right down to the slight mischievous glint in his eye that had been stamped down due to the utter relief that washed over his expression.

"Mina?" Fred asked her, as if he didn't believe that it was her. Before she could reply Ginny ran past her and into his arms. He was focused on her, on calming her down, but he still cast Mina a confused look. There was something else there, maybe gratitude or surprise? Maybe Mina had hidden Ginny behind her her far better than she had thought. Either she answered his unspoken question.

"She found me, I didn't know anything was happening until she ran into me. Fred, what's going on?" She willed the fear to stay out of her voice, but by the way his eyes widened slightly she hadn't done a good job.

"There's been an attack. Members of the Minsitry have gone to investigate, along with just about anyone who can cast a spell if they haven't already gotten their family and left." _There's been an attack._ He didn't want to scare Ginny, but now Mina could feel her own fear creeping back in. The dark mark. There were Death Eaters here. And then her mind jumped again. Members of the Ministry had gone to fight.

Her uncle would be fighting, and she wouldn't know if he was alright.

Panic began to set in. He didn't know where she was, that she was okay. She didn't know where Nikolai or Anne were. It was taking all she had to fight off the panic attack that was slowly creeping it's way into her lungs. She couldn't have one now. Slowly, she took deep breaths, urging herself to get it under control. She would find them later. They were perfectly able wizards and would be able to keep themselves safe. It was all good and well to tell herself that, but it was another thing entirely to think it.

Another pop sounded, and Fred's head jumped to the source of the sound. They were getting closer.

"We've got to go."

He pulled Ginny along behind him with his wand in his other hand, and Mina trailed them. They weaved and darted around frantic people, although considerably less than earlier and Mina prayed that it was because they were able to make their way out, as they headed for the edge of a nearby forest. They finally were able to rest as they came to a stop, and were able to catch their breaths.

How long did they it there? Hours or minutes? How many were injured? Was it anyone they knew?

Mina sat on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms curled around them. Her head sat on her knees, watching the sun start to rise, bringing with it more anxiety. It was too quiet. Why was it so quiet, surely there was still a fight? Maybe the Ministry had captured all the Death Eaters. Or maybe... she shook her head. She didn't want to think about that option.

She turned her head, to where Fred sat his eyes far off, and Ginny's head in his lap. She would have guessed that he were perfectly at ease, were it not for his grip on his wand or the ways his eyes would scan their surroundings every once in a while. His eyes drifted and found hers. She gave him a weak smile, although neither of them believed it.

"Fred?"

He hummed, letting her know that she was listening. Mina took a deep breath.

"I don't know what's gotten between us lately. But whatever it is can we put it aside?" There was a pause and Mina felt the need to keep talking, although her voice was considerably softer, and she avoided his eyes. "If they really are back it feels weird worrying about silly stuff like that."

Silence stretched and she didn't think he would respond. She turned her head back to the sun, slowly rising, and way too cheerful for the events that took place last night.

"Of course," his voice came, so soft she almost didn't hear it. "There hasn't been anything that got between us, I've just been in a bad mood lately. But last night really puts things into perspective."

She turned her head back to him, and found his eyes on her, as soft as his voice.

"Mina, I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, I should've been more considerate." He took a pause, and conflicted as he looked he moved to speak again. "Mina, I-"

"Mina!"

Her head snapped back around, to the figure of her uncle running up to them. Behind them were Nikolai, his dad and Anne. In the distance she could make out Mr. Weasley. She hurried to her feet and ran into his arms for a hug.

"I was so worried about you."

She let out a laugh, trying to quell the sudden flow of tears that wanted to fall. "You were worried? I heard you went off to scare them away, what happened?"

He pulled back his face grave. "We went but couldn't find them. It seemed more like a message than anything. But let's not talk about that now."

 _It seemed like a message._ She had goosebumps. If the Death Eaters were sending a message it's not one she would like. What would they be trying to tell people if they were gathered around _him_ and he was gone. _Be scared. You are too comfortable. He will return._ She shivered, and tried to keep that out of her mind.

Her uncle pulled back and Anne ran straight into her arms.

"We were so worried! You went for a walk and didn't come back and then all this happened. Mina don't ever do that again."

Mina fought the tears harder as Anne cried. "I ran into Ginny and Fred and then everything happened so fast. I was worried about you guys too." Anne pulled back and Mina's eyes drifted to Nikolai, who looked terse but quickly pulled her into his arms.

"Mina," his voice cracked, and she knew at this point there was no use fighting the tears. If Nikolai had been so scared, then it would be fine for her to have a moment of weakness. "Mina, I was so worried. I thought-"

"I know I though the same thing."

They stood there for a moment, trapped in a hug unable to put words to the emotions they felt, before they pulled away. Nikolai sent her a sheepish grin. She turned back to Fred and Ginny.

Ginny was now awake, talking to her uncle as he began to lead her over to her dad. Fred watched her where she stood, his expression tight until he visibly relaxed. There was still tension but it was as if he had realized he was so tense when her eyes made their way over to him. She walked over to him.

"Fred? You were gonig to say something, right before they showed up. What was it?" His eyes stayed on her for a moment, and in the quickest movement they made their way over her shoulder, before right back to her. "It was nothing Mina. I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm glad you're safe too."

* * *

 ** _Not feeling too hot this week so this chapters on the shorter side. Next week though, should be longer by comparison as we will probably be back on the Hogwarts Express! Wooooooo! (Wrote this authors note before the chapter and uhh we got a pretty good word count bois, never mind. I'd like next chapter to be longer than this but I'm not sure if that'll happen it might be right around the same length.)_**

 ** _I'm kinda dragging out the problem between Fred and Mina, but I'm figuring true to kids in high school, they're still a little immature and in the mindset that if you ignore whatever is bugging you and don't talk about it it will all blow over eventually. Which, isn't how it actually works as most of us know, it only ends up stringing the problems out further and creating a mess of emotions in the end. But, they're in high school and I know plenty of friendships that went south for people because of this. (If you're still in high school let this be a lesson to you; if something is bothering you, talk about it with whoever - it gets cleared up pretty quickly one way or another.) They'll be doing some talking at some point, but it'll be very much on the top layer of their issues for now. But, they will actually talk about feelings of being upset deeper(and maybe other sorts of feelings) within this school year, it'll just be a small bit until we get to it. I'm ready for them to grow a bit more with each other._**

 _ **Thank you guys for your constant support, it means a lot and I get a little giddy each time I get an email saying there's been a review. Love you all, and I'll see you all next week on the Hogwarts Express.**_


	38. Chapter 38

Mina had managed to find her way onto the train without knocking over any first years or tripping over her own two feet, which was an improvement from the last few years. She was even able to spot a cabin with Fred and George with relative ease. As she looked in, she was able to see the light falling down onto Fred, making bits of his hair turn amber in the sun.

Sliding the door open, she hung awkwardly in the doorway for a second. Fred looked up and smiled at her, and she left her worries at the door. They were cool now. Why wouldn't she be allowed to sit in a cabin with her friends?

She flashed him a smile back, before she took the seat opposite him and pulled a book onto her lap. He had gone back to what he was doing, no doubt scrawling products all over a paper. Her eyes hovered over him for a moment. Should she say something? She thumbed the cover of her book for a moment before she threw caution to the wind.

"How are you guy's doing? You know, after..."

She trailed off. She didn't need to finish her sentence, didn't even want to, as the looks on their faces were enough.

"Well, we came home and Mum fussed over all of us for the better part of a day," Fred started, an easy smile on his face.

"We haven't seen attention like that since we were leaving for Hogwarts as first years," George added.

"And even then that was a wreak because Percy, Charlie, and Bill were all hounding us to be in Gryffindor," Fred gave his brother a smile at the memory, before turning back to Mina. "What about you?"

"Well," she drawled out, her thumb nervously gliding over the cover of her book, not quite meeting his eyes. "I just barely managed to convince my Uncle to not mention it to my parents. If they knew what happened I'd be put in a muggle school before I could even say 'Merlin'." She looked at him for a moment, before looking back down at her book. "If anything else happens though, I'm not sure I can convince him to not tell them."

Fred reached across to her and took her hand, burying it beneath both of his. He was so close that their knees were bumping, and he leant forward towards her as he spoke.

"I'm here for you if you need it."

He smiled and Mina weakly reciprocated it as she squeezed his hand. George was polite enough to not acknowledge what was happening, and instead appeared interested in a herbology textbook.

He made her feel warm, like the sun had just wormed its way into her chest.

Mina opened her mouth to speak, but the door opened. Lee Jordan stood in the opening giving the two a weird look. Mina tore herself away from Fred, not at all being too suspicious, and managed to great him with a cool air. "Hey, Lee." Which would've been effective if he hadn't of just since her frantically take her hand out of Fred's and throw it into her lap.

"Hey Mina," Lee said with a tone that said he thought what happened was weird, but he wasn't going to bring it up. He took a seat on the same bench she was sitting on, but across from George, who had managed to get himself up against the corner by the door in an effort to give Mina and Fred some alone time.

"How's your sister doing?"

"Great, she just got a job at St. Mungo's," he gave her a proud smile.

"Woah, Lee. that's crazy. That's gotta be so exciting?" The door opened. Angelina. Mina did her best to look at Lee, and not the way how she took the seat next to Fred, coming way too close to him for her comfort.

"Yeah, Mum went around to all the neighbors making sure they knew that her daughter was a talented healer. She even went-"

"Mina." Angelina interrupted Lee mid sentence. "Spill the beans."

Her excited tone made her even more confused. She cast a look to both Lee and Fred, who looked equally confused as she felt. Even George lifted an eyebrow from his book that he hadn't turned, showing he was interested but he was going to stay out of whatever.

"Spill the? Angelina, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Angelina leaned back in her seat, and crossed her legs at the knee. She leaned just slightly into Fred as she spoke and Mina willed her blood not to boil. "Why, your boyfriend, of course."

There was an immediate temperature change in the cabin. Mina both couldn't breath and felt her blood going cold, and considered for a moment that maybe she alone was the reason for the complete forty degree shift in the room. She glanced at Fred, who was frozen, and another look to George showed he had become real invested in his book too quickly. Lee appeared to be the only one interested in what Angelina was asking.

"He's not... why Angelina, I'm right in the middle of a conversation with my good friend Lee about how his sister got into St. Mungo's. Right Lee?" She looked to him, practically begging with her eyes for him to tell Angelina that they were in fact in the middle of a conversation. But luck didn't appear to be on her side.

"Actually I'm pretty interested to hear about that." He cast a quick look to Fred, as if he somehow had anything to do with it, and Mina cursed him in her head. How could he leave her out to dry like that?

She froze, all alone and in an awkward position.

"Well," she drew out, hoping that if it went on long enough everyone would forget what the topic was. She frantically searched her brain for what to say. Anything. Nothing. She'd settle for something, if only her brain would work. But then the door opened and an angel came in.

Anne. Oh, sweet sweet Anne, her dearest friend.

She looked at her with a hurried look. "Mina, some first year slammed his finger into the door and someone needs to take a look at it."

Mina was going to kiss Anne.

That was it. Anne had come and rescued her, although in the form of a bloody finger, she was still going to take it. She remained frozen in place for a moment, but when Anne tilted her head, she scrambled to grab her bag.

"Yep, well that's me. I've got to go guys. Enjoy your ride."

She wasn't even able to close the door before Angelina yelled after her. "We'll talk about this later."

Mina would sooner die before that, and pretended she couldn't hear her over the closed door. Frantically, she trailed after Anne, mentally preparing herself for the first year with an injury. After a bit of walking Anne stopped and gave her a grin. Mina gave her a confused look, as she peered into what appeared to be an empty cabin.

"Where's the first year?"

"Doesn't exist."

Anne's grin widened as Mina looked at her slack jawed. She was going through too many emotions at once, so fast she couldn't even name them all, but the one she landed on was relief.

"Oh Anne, I could kiss you," Mina went in for a hug, and Anne laughed as she held her.

"I'll pass on that," Anne pulled back, her grin matching Mina's. She opened the door, and as Mina walked in she was surprised to see Aidan and Alicia.

"You guys!" Mina said, her voice dripping in excitement as she moved to hug her friends. It had only been the summer, but it had felt like ages since she had seen them. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty great," Aidan said, smiling at Alicia as he put a hand on her knee.

"Aidan showed me a lot of bookstores in his town over the summer."

"Probably not the only thing he showed you," Anne whispered as she took the seat next to Mina. This earned her an elbow to the stomach, and if Aidan and Alicia were curious about the pained look on her face, they sure didn't voice their questions.

"So you guys spent the summer together?"

"Yeah, Aidan's parents are super sweet," Alicia said, a small smile at her lips, as Aidan found her hand.

They were super sweet.

Mina wasn't sure they were going to make it through the summer, but it was good to know she wouldn't have to spend this year helping them spend time together. She could spend time studying and in the hospital wing. And more importantly, on the quidditch pitch.

Yet, while she was overall ecstatic to know they were good, she couldn't help the small part of her that felt pity for herself, that she would never have something like that.

* * *

 ** _Ooof, ya'll I'm still not feeling too great so this chapter is what it is. At this point in the story I'm trying to juggle stuff that's coming up plot wise, and stuff I'm going to be changing once I'm done and can rewrite stuff. Much of the first couple chapters will be revised hella cause I didn't find my footing for a bit. Although the rewrite's not for a while since we're only in Goblet of Fire, but I think the other books are going to be a little faster than Prisoner of Azkaban and this one._**

 ** _What do you guy's want to see coming up in the story? What should I add in? More time between certain characters? Certain plot points from the book? Or just some general angsty/ maybe cute stuff? Any tropes we want to explore?_**

 ** _What about in the rewrite? What would you like me to go back and touch on when I've finished this story? Anything I should add? Take out? I'll already be changing Angelina into an OC when I go back, so don't worry about that. (Anyone got any name suggestions for when she gets turned into an OC? I think I'd like to avoid 'A' names as there's already a bit of those bouncing around.)_**

 ** _Have you guy's gone back to school yet? I go back in two weeks (I should prob spend the time writing and stockpiling chapters), and I'm not looking forward to it. I've got a full load of classes and I'm on campus for what feels like forever, esp when I have to account for parking. And I'm there for like nine hours, four days a week. Although I can probably find time to write in a two hour break between two of my classes, I'm just really worried that I'll have too many assignments and this will get sidetracked. I'll keep you guys updated, and I'll try to find time to write because I'm worried about it. If I die from course work, you're all able to say 'I told you so' and I'll know to take less classes next semester._**

 ** _My B ya'll shoutout to Lillian Smith for catching the fact that it's Aidan and not Ben, my brain really stopped working for a bit didn't it? Further proof that I'm allowed no more A names in the story lmao._**


	39. Chapter 39

As far as good days went, Fred's was not one of them.

Sure, he was happy to be going back to Hogwarts so he could see his friends. And sure, he was happy to be back in an ideal pranking environment. But when Mina knocked on the door of the cabin and his stomach dropped, it was a clear indication that something was wrong.

Their whole awkward interaction made him yearn for last year, when things were smoother between them. When she wasn't dating anyone, and he wasn't jealous, and he wasn't having to suppress his emotions just to talk to her. Was she even flirting with him last year? Or had he been reading too much into it, and that was just how she interacted with all of her friends? If that was the case, it only urged his jealousy onwards, as he mentally wondered how she was towards her boyfriend.

Ugh.

Just the word made him feel sick.

They probably kissed.

Fred felt sick at the thought, but forced himself to think on it, mentally torturing himself. Even if he had told Mina that things would be normal between the two of them, it didn't mean it was. He still had all these thoughts and feelings, and all the what-if's that went along with those. And in ever single one of those, Mina was in them.

Upset because he's not with Mina.

Angry that she's with her boyfriend.

Sad that she doesn't feel the same way that he does.

But what was he even going to say to her at the World Cup? 'Hey Mina, I know you've got a boyfriend, but I've had a thing for you for ages. It'd be super cool if you could dump him and we could start dating, preferably now.'

Like that would work.

What made it worse, is that, in the smallest part of his brain, a paranoid voice was telling him that she knew how he felt. That she avoided the topic to spare his feelings.

The way she introduced him to her, not as a boyfriend, only to spare him of his feelings. Or the way she had been quick to cut him off at the World Cup, eager to not hear his confession of... whatever he was going to say.

Although, she had been eager to see her uncle safe, and she had asked him what he was going to say. But the way she glanced at him as Angelina asked about _him_ was enough. She had to know. She had been trying to spare his feelings. Looking for an out. Even the relief on her face when Anne showed up was proof of it.

And he hated that his brother, Lee, and just about the world could see how broken up about it he was.

It had been kind of George to give them a moment, even just by making himself as quiet and as small as he could, before everyone else had gotten in the cart. But Lee hadn't been helpful in asking about the issue more, and his stare hadn't been appreciated either.

Fred might as well throw Angelina into that category as well.

She would not leave him alone and it was driving him insane. She was everywhere. Clinging to him all throughout the World Cup. It was a wonder he had even a few minutes peace from her the entire time they were there. Not to mention barging in and ruining his one good moment with Mina. Sure, Lee had been the first to come in, but Angelina had completely tanked the mood in the cart and might as well have been the first in.

If he were even just a bit more confrontational he'd tell her to back off.

But, she was still a friend, and maybe she just picked up on how hurt he'd been. But still, her line of questioning didn't help. And the way she was always just _there_ put thoughts into his head that maybe she wanted more than that. But even after it all, his heart only had eyes for Mina.

Smart, pretty, and always around for a good laugh Mina.

Who didn't like him.

Maybe it was good he wasn't just a bit more confrontational. If he was, he might've confessed to her and completely ruined their whole friendship. She wouldn't have been able to think of him as a friend anymore, instead only as the guy who liked her. He didn't want to put anymore stress on them as it was. And if he had, he couldn't handle the risk of her telling him they couldn't be friends anymore.

He wanted to pull his hair out, the whole thing was so frustrating.

But, if Mina was happy, he was happy.

He could lie to himself, and pretend for her sake.

* * *

 _ **Thanks to Lillian Smith for noticing I completely called Aidan the wrong name last chapter; I really goofed that one up.**_

 _ **Think I'm gonna have to rewatch Goblet of Fire this week to jar my memory on what happens plot wise, and maybe that way I'll come up with some interesting situations to throw Mina and Fred into. Any thing specific you guys are looking forward to? I know I'm excited particularly for the yule ball ;).**_

 _ **On top of jarring my memory, I know I'll have to prewrite a couple of chapters this week (instead of leaving it for update days...) since classes will be starting up for me in**_ ** _February and I have no idea what my workload will be like. Although, I've got a considerable amount of downtime between classes, but I feel like I'll be doing homework in that time._**

 ** _Have you guys started any new shows recently? I started watching Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments because I read the first book of the series and part of the second one, and was assured by a friend that it was good. I'm having a hard time getting over the whole JaceXClary thing given spoiler reasons that ultimately leave me thinking yuck anytime they interact. I stopped reading the books because of that and it's been a real struggle to not completely drop it._**

 ** _Do you guys have any recommendations for podcasts, books, movies, or shows for me to check out in my downtime between classes? I doubt I'll be super busy the first week._**

 ** _Anyways, hope you enjoyed a little sight into Fred's mind this week. My favorite moment was the 'they probably kiss' part, I felt myself chuckling a little bit writing the line, but it just felt so early years of high school that I had to include it. I'm already thinking of ways for their characters to grow this year and I feel like this little childish thought from him is a good way to start off before they mature a little more. Thanks for reading and next week, we should probably be in the great hall, unless if I decide to skip over that entirely. ~Who knows, certainly not me, the author writing this~ it'll be a fun surprise for all of us. Thanks for reading._**


	40. Chapter 40

The Great Hall was absolutely buzzing with excitement.

Had they really heard Dumbledore correctly? Other schools, other magical students, would really be coming? But then the doors opened and in came the most wonderful people Fred had ever seen.

Well, with the exception of Mina.

Sure the students of Beauxbatons were stunning, flawless, seemed to float as they walked, and had just a certain way of eliciting a jumble of emotions in his stomach with a simple smile... but they were too perfect. They didn't have her half smirk as she tried to hold back a laugh, or the way when she was nervous she always found something to play with in her hands. The way her laugh seemed to carry when he told her a particularly funny joke... there was even something charming about her when Fred knew things were awkward between them both. No, the boys and girls of Beauxbatons were not the most wonderful people he had ever seen. But they certainly fought their way into second place.

His eyes trailed over her for just a moment, as he watched her fervently whisper something to an enamored looking Anne.

No. Beauxbatons didn't even come close.

Her eyes lit up, and Fred found himself smiling. He'd have to add the fact that she wore her emotions on her sleeve to his list of reasons that he liked her. His eyes drifted further and his expression soured. Not even the appearance of Victor Krum would make him happy. Because standing there, with the boys and girls of Durmstrang was Nikolai.

Mina's boyfriend.

It took all his will power to stay seated, and to not get up and walk out of the hall entirely. Especially when he could see look of excitement on both of their faces at seeing each other. It made him sick. And yet, he knew he was being a poor sport. As her friend, he should be supportive, and that would mean being happy for her. But Fred was bitter and he would stew for as long as he wanted to, which would be however long it would take for _Nikolai_ to get back on his stupid little boat and go back to wherever he came from.

The only thing able to lift his spirits was the thought of entering the Triwizard Tournament, and even that was quashed as quickly as the idea came to his head. _Stupid age limit._ Like that would stop him from entering.

If he was about to have a miserable year having Mina's happiness touted before him, he was at least going to have to try to get glory to distract himself.

* * *

Mina couldn't believe what she had heard or seen.

 _Nikolai was here._

She was so excited. She wanted to show him so much about Hogwarts, and to hear what Durmstrang was like. What did they eat? Were their classes different? Was his ex here with them? She was just about bursting with questions, which is why just as soon a they were able to leave, she jumped out of her seat.

Her friends found her first, and she was too worked up to even be bothered by the look Angelina had been giving her, or how close she had been standing to Fred. Her eyes darted through the crowd, scanning for signs of her friend.

Just as Fred had been mid joke - about a prank he and George had played on Ron - beside her, strong arms tapped came and gave her a large hug from behind her. She turned, and let out a small squeal before returning a hug to Nikolai, not noticing that Fred's story had stopped. Or the way his eyes and his smile managed to tighten.

"That could've gone poorly if it hadn't been me you hugged."

"The thought occurred to me just as I went in for it," his accent had gotten a little stronger since the last time she had seen him, "but I figured my charm and good looks would do the talking to get me out of any trouble."

She snorted, but let it slide.

"How'd you know it was me?"

He pulled back from the hug, both hands on her arms as he faked a serious tone, althugh his eyes twinkled the way his fathers' did when he was talking business. "You were with all the blue. I looked for the smallest mass of curly hair in blue and took a shot." He paused for a moment, before leaning in a little. "You all are sorted by favorite color? Is kinda weird, no?"

She held back a laugh as his voice fell into pattern with his dads' stilted english. The simplified logic that he would have jumped too. It was nice to have an inside joke, even if his dad was the butt of it. Still, she could see the confusion on his eyes.

"No that's not it. I can explain it more later," and then she realized all her friends were quietly watching them. "Ah, Nikolai these are my friends. You already know some of them." Those he didn't know made quick introductions. "Fred was just in the middle of a story," she looked expectantly to her left, waiting for Fred to pick up from where he left off.

She watched his eyes go over her head, to where Nikolai stood to her right before he shook his head.

"No, it's alright. It'd be rude to our guest."

"Oh no, please," Nikolai pipped up, awkwardly trying to not make a big deal. "Do continue, I can pick up from context clues. And if not I'm sure Mina would be glad to explain it to me."

His face soured, before bouncing back into the tense smile he had on before. "No man, it's no big deal. I don't even remember where I was."

There was an awkward moment of silence, before Mina jumped in quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I didn't know I was. We showed up last week and they told us everyone sixth year and up who was of a certain academic standing was going to be able to go." Mina wanted to ask if his ex was here, but didn't want to out him to her friends. It wasn't for her to tell, so she tried getting the question across without actually saying it. "You should have seen some of the faces of those who were'nt able to come," he held he rgaze a moment longer and that was enough of an answer for her. She realized, once again, her friends were just listening in.

"Well then, it's a good thing we're holding it, isn't it Fred? I'm not sure we would've been so lucky," Mina joked, trying to get her friends to into the conversation more comfortably.

Fred let out a 'mhm' as a response, although it came out harder than he had wanted it to.

There was another moment of silence.

"I think I've got to go, we'll talk more later," Nikolai went in for a quick hug, before heading off towards the other Durmstrang students. Mina watched him go, before her eyes jumped back to Angelina as she cleared her throat.

"Well, that was fun. He seems nice. Mina I _personally_ look forward to getting to know him."

She gave her a forceful smile. This year was going to be a real test of her strength.

* * *

 ** _Oof, ya'll I was only able to watch half of Goblet of Fire this week (which such cause it's my fav of all the movies) but the good news is now I've got TONS of plot in just that time._**

 ** _Super excited to get to all the really good bits, especially the yule ball, which was one of the first scenes I had in mind before I even decided I was going to write this fic._**

 ** _I'm writing this chapter with wet nails, and it is a struggle, but I've got plans tmrw so I'll suffer (and prob smudge my nails ughhh)._**

 ** _Hope you all are staying warm, it's supposed to be absolutely freezing in some parts of the US. We've got a ton of rain where I live, which has everyone freaked out when they're driving because we don't normally have bad weather._**

 ** _Also, King of Scars got released this week! Did anyone else read it? Anyone else a fan of Leigh Bardugo? It took a bit to get into, but I never would've guessed_ that _as the ending. I'm already super excited for the second book._**

 ** _Can't wait to get through next week, my first week of the semester, and hopefully be able to figure out a solid writing schedule between classes. That way I'm not stuck writing the night before updates with wet nails lmao._**


	41. Chapter 41

Weather permitting, a dry spot on the ground next one of the many trees by the lake was Mina's favorite place at Hogwarts. She was able to find peace there, in a way she wasn't able to find anywhere else. The silence wasn't stiffening like it was in the library, and there wasn't an underlying frenzied energy like there was at the kitchen. Even her own room didn't come close to the comfort this spot managed to bring to her.

Which is why she found herself sitting there with Nikolai on a nice day before class started.

"Okay, but I still don't understand. What _even_ is Ravenclaw?"

Mina's mouth twitched with amusement as she leaned back to lay down on the ground. "Well, the traits of my house are wit, learning, wisdom, those sort of things. The sorting hat figures out which house we'd be best in. So Gryffindor are brave, Slytherin are cunning, Hufflepuff are dedicated," she finished with a wave of her hand, with the tone of someone who's had to explain something too many times.

"Ah," he drawled out before he cracked his own half smile, "so then you're smart. You never told me that."

A laugh escaped her lips. "Wit and wisdom are different things than intellect. I like learning things, sure, but I'm not the most studious person," she took a pause, and Nikolai thought she was done talking when she picked back up. "To be honest, it took the sorting hat a couple of minutes with me. Which was terrifying as a first year, y'know. Sitting up in front of the great hall, with all the houses looking at me, trying see what I can bring to their house. And there's the fact that I'm one of the only things standing in between everyone and dinner, but despite that, I haven't question the hat's choice since."

Nikolai's hair moved slightly as he shook his head. "I don't get it," Mina opened her mouth to try to explain the houses more before he held out a hand. "No, I get it but, I don't understand. Why separate everyone? What good does that do, other than make bias?"

"I've never thought about it like that before. I guess in order to give us all a support system, and a way to have some light competition. How do you guy's do it?"

"Well, everyone isn't separated by a hat for a start," Mina didn't even have to look at him to to see the smile on his face at the teasing. "There's separation between what level we're in and obvious favoritism of those with good grades by professors, but that's about it. We certainly don't have to wear certain colors and only those colors."

"Yeah, it is kinda annoying," Mina gave a dramatic flip of her hair, "but at least I look good in blue."

Nikolai laughed and she gave him a proud smile.

"Alright, do you have any other questions?"

"Not that I can think of, but if I do you'll be the first Ravenclaw I go too."

"Good," she said with a grin on her face, and pushed herself up. "In that case, I should get going before I'm late for class."

"Alright, then have fun," his voice full of sarcasm as he laid out onto the grass.

Mina rolled her eyes.

* * *

This was not how Defense Against the Dark Arts was supposed to be taught.

That was something Mina knew for a fact.

Sure, she had had many different professors teach it, and sure, most of them didn't do a great job at it, but something unnerved her about the way Professor Moody performed the unforgivable curses with such joy. Even if it was on something as small as a spider. The feeling of helplessness it had to have felt caused tremors in her. It was one she was familiar with. She willed her thoughts of being petrified away, but her brain didn't quite listen to her. In her classmates, she could sense tense emotions.

The horror.

Shock.

And in few, excitement.

For Mina? It was disgust. Pure, unadulterated disgust, rolling in her stomach at the thought of this being use on _people._ It just didn't sit well with her. Or her lunch.

When Professor Moody dismissed them, she was one of the first out of the classroom. She was in such a hurry she had almost left her bag there, and she ignored whoever was calling after her. Mina's emotions were running rampant, and she didn't want whoever to see her break down. A hand caught her arm just as she rounded the corner and pulled her into a small hidden alcove.

"Mina, what's going on?" Fred prodded carefully, at the somewhat frantic expression on her face.

She felt ashamed at how he looked at her like she was about to break.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she shook his hand off of her arm. He gave her a weird look, and just as she was about to walk away, he grabbed her again. With both of his hands on her shoulders, he leaned in close to her. Mina held her head high to the side, building her mental walls up and begging herself not to break down right now, as she refused to make eye contact with him. "I _need_ to go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey is expecting me."

It wasn't a complete lie. She really did need to go the hospital wing. And technically, Madam Pomfrey was always expecting her.

Just not as a patient.

He watched her for a moment, before he sighed.

"It's okay to be upset by what we just saw," he paused, and let out a shaky breath. "I'm pretty rattled by it too."

Her eyes snapped to his face. Its unguarded expression broke something in her. She could feel her walls crumbling as his warm eyes bore into hers.

"You are?"

He let out a breathy laugh.

"Of course. Mina, if we weren't I'm not sure we'd be human."

It was Mina's turn to take in a sharp breath. "I just," she drew out, before she shook her head. "Never mind, it's dumb."

She turned to move, but Fred's grip on her shoulders held, and he took a hand to her chin to make her look at him. "Mina, nothing you're feeling is dumb. Ever. You are the most genuine person I know, so if something's bothering you, then it's important."

Mina, watched him for a second as he stared at her. She barely processed how close they were, only how sincere the look in his eyes seemed. She took a shaky breath as she willed her own eyes to not start crying.

"I just think, that it's not right to use spells like that. That someone can just be living their life and someone else can just come by and take advantage of them. Take their will away, t-to trap someone in their own body" Her voice cracked, and she looked away from Fred as she blinked to keep the tears at bay. "To use something like that, there's no reason. And to teach that to a bunch of underage students, knowing they could try and recreate it? I can't think of a reason to justify it."

There was silence as Fred watched her, and Mina closed her eyes. She wasn't going to be able to hide her emotions anymore.

"Oh Mina," his voice came quietly, so soft she almost mistook it for a draft. "I'm so sorry you had to see that." Her eyes popped open, and she could see a watery Fred looking down sadly at her with an expression of pain so bad she almost asked him if he was physically hurt. "Of course it's going to bring being petrified back up, I should've told Moody to shove it."

A weak laugh escaped her lips. "No you shouldn't have. It's dumb and I'm over reacting. I should just get a calming draught."

Fred's hand came to the side of her face gently, forcing her to look at him once more, and she subconsciously leant into it. "Mina Donnelly, how many times do I have to tell you? Nothing about you is dumb, especially not your feelings."

She took in his words and it finally hit her.

How close they were.

Only inches apart.

Her eyes flitted up to his lips for a split second, and for a moment she thought he might've had the same idea she had. How easy it would've been just to close the distance between them. Instead he held her in place, although he leant in slightly as he spoke.

"Your feelings are normal. What you went through was traumatic, of course it's still going to sneak up on you when you least want it to. Ginny still has dreams at night, not as often as she did at first, but they still come," he paused, as if he was haunted by the memory, and Mina knew it to be true. It loomed over him, not being able to have something to do to physically make them better. These weren't things he could go out and fight, and that was killing him. "Your pain is valid, because it's yours. You don't have to meet any other criteria, check any other boxes off for it. Mina, you are allowed to feel upset because you are human. And humans have emotions. No more hoops to jump, something triggered this pain, and you're feeling it, so don't bottle it up. That's only going to make the fall out worse in the end."

As if her eyes knew that's what she needed to hear, she started crying.

No bawling.

Fred pulled her into his chest, into the biggest, most protective hug he could manage. Mina broke down. She couldn't help it.

The emotions tumbled out of her unexpectedly, and just wouldn't turn off. They stood there, Mina in his arms and Fred stroking her hair whispering soothing words in her ear.

With her, a part of Fred's heart broke.

If he could do something to take all her pain away, he would do it in an instant. He had wanted nothing more than to just kiss her in order to help him express his own feelings, but she was hurting and he wasn't about to take advantage of her.

So for the second time, Fred bottled his confession, his own emotions, deep in his chest.

He never was very good at taking his own advice.

* * *

 ** _Oof, did not mean to take that turn w the chapter, but it happened so we'll leave it. Hey slow progress is still progress right? This ship is sailing at the pace of a glacier._**

 ** _I'm seeing reviews about the miscommunication issues between Fred/Mina/Angie, and I'm just gonna let you know that for a bit longer that's gonna be happening. We've got a slow burn going on w/ some angst BUT things kick off at the yule ball (you can't see it but I'm winking)._**

 ** _Also, I've already dropped a class before I even attended it lmao. The prof posted the syllabus online and I would've had to go to city hall meetings and teach a class w/ activities and do multiple presentations, and I do not have time for that w/ all my other classes for one class that has nothing to do w/ my major. But on the bright side, assuming I knock out a grand total of like 5 chapters of reading and notes every weekend (that's like ~250-400 pages depending on the textbooks I'm bouncing around? I'm fine, everything's fine) then I've got more time to write than I thought I would have. Currently it's Wednesday (although you'll b reading this on sunday when I post) because my first class today was cancelled, and ya'll I feel so productive writing this in the middle of the week instead of on an update day._**

 ** _Anyways, let me know your thoughts on the chapter / story so far and if there's anything you wanna see that I could maybe squeeze into the plot. Thanks for reading. Xx_**


	42. Chapter 42

Mina was anything but impressed by the Triwizard Tournament. The fact that people were actually upset about the age limit was insane to her.

Of course there was one, there was a chance whoever would die.

It wasn't something Mina was remotely interested in, and had a hard time understanding why a person would want to join it.

Eternal glory.

She snorted. That was the dumbest thing she had ever heard. She was more than content having a happy life with little to no excitement. She'd already had enough excitement for a lifetime.

Which is why she spent her time in the hospital wing, some people just attracted danger and it felt good to know she could help them. And knowing that she wasn't the most unlucky student at Hogwarts helped a little. Considering everything that went on in her school, she shouldn't have assumed that Wednesday would be relatively calm. It didn't stop her from thinking maybe any shenanigans would be saved for the weekend, when she wasn't supposed to be helping out.

Clearly, her school mates had other ideas.

"Oh my," she heard Madam Pomfrey from across the room. She shook her head. Mina should've known the excitement of the Tournament would just cause more trouble.

She went about setting together a few beds without looking at the students. She wasn't certain she wanted to see the mess they had gotten themselves into.

"Mina, will you take Mr. Weasley and give him a draught to help with his," Madam Pomfrey took a pause, trying to find a word - which ended up coming out in a tone of disappointment," appearance... and I will help his brother." _Who could possibly be the Weasley's to end up in the hospital wing?_ She thought to herself sarcastically.

Turning around, sure enough, the source of commotion was Fred and George who each had... beards and gray hair?

With a sigh and a shake of her head, it took all her will to fight the smile off of her face. She managed to throw a questioning look to Madam Pomfrey who dodged it expertly. The older healer had far more experience than her. It would have been nothing for her to double the potion and give half to each twin.

She had the sneaking feeling that Madam Pomfrey was up to something.

"Alright, then," she struggled for words, still staring at the beard, a little unsure how to go about fixing it," let's get you set up at a bed." He trailed her to a bed on the other side of the room, as the beds she had made earlier all next to each other had somehow been taken over by bandages and books on healing. She cast another suspicious glance to Madam Pomfrey, but if she wanted an answer she wasn't going to get one. "So," she drawled out," how exactly did this happen?"

"Well," Fred drew out as he stroked his beard, "George and I were trying to make ourselves older to enter the Tournament."

She stared at him dumbfounded for a minute, before she reached for one of the books.

"Let me guess, it didn't go well?"

"No, this is a little older than either of us was going for," he flashed her a wide smile, "but, at least you can see how handsome I'll be when I'm old and gray."

She let out a sharp laugh.

"Fred Weasley, you certainly will be the catch of the retirement home," she just said as she flipped through the book, landing on the page she needed.

He let out a fake gasp. "How dare you assume I'll be in a retirement home. I'll have you know I plan on being very spry for my age."

"No doubt you will," she said, humor heavy on her voice. "I just assumed you and George would go willingly to have a new group of people to pull tricks on."

"Mina Donnelly, you absolute genius, I never thought of that."

"Why thank you," she took an overdramatic bow as she held the book to her chest," I do try."

She could feel his eyes on her as she set off to brew a solution to his problem. Maybe he could sense her nerves over never having brewed this draught before. Another part of Mina hoped that wasn't it. That maybe his feelings for Angelina had dropped and instead he would confess to her that she liked her all along.

She could've snorted. Like that would happen.

Instead there was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as she worked, until she was left with a small vial of something purple and shiny. She handed it over to him, and he went to hesitantly grab it. He was about to chug it when Mina spoke.

"Don't worry this will only hurt a little bit. Maybe."

His eyebrow quirked. "Maybe?"

"Probably," she back tracked, trying to not make him nervous. "I've never made this specific draught before."

"Well, that's a comfort. Bit of advice, maybe mention that after I take it, next time."

She grimaced as he drank it, but grew concerned when nothing happened. "Are you sure you drank it all?" Her question was answered when he began to wince so badly his eyes were squished. Mina sat on the edge of his bed and grabbed his hand, which he squeezed the life out of, as the gray hairs started to disappear. A moment later he was looking like the Fred she knew.

"How do I look," he finally asked, peeling open his eyes.

"Normal," she practically breathed she was so relieved. He smiled at her as he rested back against the pillow.

"Why nurse Mina you've done it again. Congratulations." She flashed him a relieved smile. "Can I ask what the back up plan would've been if you hadn't gotten it right?"

"Well, I supposed I would've gone running to Madam Pomfrey frantically."

"That would've been a sight to see, considering you don't do anything frantically," his voice was exhausted, but he gave her such a caring smile that she froze for a second. She gave him a smile of their own and the two of them sat like that for a moment in comfortable silence. She felt warm, and his thumb brushing against her hand made her heart feel like it was jello.

Together, they both seemed to realize that Mina was still holding his hand.

All at once she brought her hand back to herself, stood up, and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Well, let me go get you some water and some food. You'll have to stay here for a while so we can monitor your reaction to the draught," she walked away as quickly as she could, hoping he couldn't see how red her face was.

* * *

 _ **Y'all I took about three massive L's this week (one of which was getting rear ended) so I'd like to apologize because I know this will be short and not too great. It'll be an update but not anything spectacular.** **Hope your week is going way better than mine, because rn I'm just feeling ready for the year to end already, which is such a shame because I went into the year with good energy and everything.**_

 ** _Next week should have more going on, and should be longer I just couldn't manage to write anymore this week, which I'm sorry for. I'll try to make it up next week (I think I've got a trip to Hogsmeade planned for next week, but I'm not took sure off the top of my head)._**


	43. Chapter 43

As Mina got ready for a day in Hogsmeade, she found it hard to focus. Part of her mind drifted to Fred.

She knew, it would just be easier for her in the long run to tell him how she felt. It would save her from all this heartbreak she was going through, and it would encourage herself to get over it as soon as possible. But, it would make things awkward between the two of them, and she wasn't sure she could handle him telling her they couldn't be friends anymore, especially considering they were _just_ starting to get over the weirdness that they had between them over the summer. Or it could end up even worse. Mina wasn't sure she could handle them slowly drifting apart, because Fred would be too nice to let her know it would be too awkard to still be friends. That was something she wasn't sure her heart could handle.

Her roomates snickered as they got ready, rubbing their 'Potter Stinks' pins in each others faces. That was the other thing on her mind.

She couldn't begin to imagine what Harry was going through, and she refused to believe he would willing put his own name into the goblet. He was only fourteen and yet he had had enough excitement for a lifetime. Not that any of it was exciting, more like completely and utterly terrifying. She didn't think it was even remotely worth being completely isolated by your own school.

It was even dividing her classmates in how they interacted with one another.

She threw a disdainful glare over her shoulder, and the girls movies away from her to a corner of the room, quietly whispering things about her without a doubt. They could hate her for not being furious with Harry, that was fine. Joining a school wide movement to bully a kid was not.

Throwing a gray sweater on quickly, she and Anne hastily made their way down to the courtyard, eager to get out of the stifling air of the castle. Yet, standing waiting to go into town, Mina began to wonder why she thought it would be any different.

She was still stuck with the same classmates, with the same ideas. All it would do is bring them to another location, like that would change their opinions at all.

"Can you believe them," Anne whispered to her, nodding her head at some irritating fifth years playing with their pins in each other faces.

"I know right," Mina whispered back, irritation clear on her face. "Not only are they incredibly rude, but it's so immature to be doing that. If they were Harry they wouldn't be feeling so good."

One of the boys turned to Anne and gave her a lopsided grin. She rolled her eyes and tossed a lock of her red hair over her shoulder, before she loudly spoke. "I would never go near someone who was that disgusting."

The boy seemed to get the hint as the grin slipped off his face. She watched him turn back to his friends and slowly take the pin off of his shirt and move it into his pocket.

Good.

If they needed to be shamed for how they were acting then so be it.

Mina turned back to Anne to talk about what happened, when she could see her face full of worry as her gaze shifted from Mina to behind her shoulder. She turned around to see what she was looking at.

Staanding there at the end of the hallway was Fred in a red jumper. His hair was uneven and when he saw Mina looknig he gave her a wide smile. Mina smiled back at him, when out of nowhere Angelina jumped on his back. Mina turned around as she could feel her expression sour.

Anne and her stood in silence as she tried to get a check on her emotions when she spoke up.

"Are you sure that they're dating?" she asked, still staring over her shoulder.

Mina furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean? Angelina said they were dating, she wouldn't lie about that?"

Anne's eye drifted back to her friend.

"Well," she drew out, as if she didn't want to say the words," Fred just pulled a face when he looked at her, and he's doing a pretty hard 'trying to look but not look over here' thing."

"Maybe he's got a bad poker face, or he and Angelina were trying to keep in on the down low and she just gave them away," Mina's jaw clenched at the thought. "Either way, it doesn't matter."

Anne stared at her for a moment before deciding to drop it.

They waited in tense silence for a moment longer when a familiar face popped up in front of them.

"You guys weren't going to go to the first Hogsmeade trip without me, were you?" The girls looked at each other in surprise before grins slipped onto their faces.

"Aidan!" Mina moved in to hug him. "Hey!"

Anne gave him a hug but looked at him hesitantly. "We thought you were gonna hang out with your girlfriend."

He pulled a hurt face. "And miss out on the first trip with you guys? No way, she's hanging out with friends, we're cool." He ran a hand through his hair before throwing a hand around each of their shoulders. "Now, who's ready to get so much junk food."

* * *

Mina was happy. Which was nice for a change.

Walking out of Honeydukes with her friends she felt at peace, albeit slightly on a sugar high.

They began their walk back, and Mina laughed as Aidan and Anne were arguing over which was superior - sherbet or chocolate.

"Clearly sherbet is better, because you get a variety of flavors. It's all the fun of picking several flavors without actually having to pay for them," Anne said as she held up her spoon, admiring the multitude of colors on it.

Aidan shook his head.

"Absolutely not, chocolate is a classic. It's so many people's favorites for a reason."

The two bickered back and forth and Mina smiled to herself as she took bites of her vanilla ice cream. Eventually she was trailing behind the two just enough that if anyone asked her she didn't know them. She loved them, but they were a little embarrassing when they were _very_ enthusiastic about ice cream flavors.

"Mina!"

She spun around when she heard the voice.

"Fred, hi," she said, surprised to see him without Angelina. They were practically conjoined at the hip when she saw them this morning. "Where's Angelina?"

"Oh," he sounded equally surprised at her question. "I think she's in one of the shops over there?"

"Ah."

They stood there for a moment, with Fred just staring at her until he seemed to realize that she was waiting for him to speak.

"I was wondering, um, if you would sit next to me." He paused and upon seeing her confused face he realized he didn't specify. "At the first event this week."

Mina scrunched her eyebrows.

He wanted her to sit next to him? She thought Angelina would've been at his side. But... if he wanted to sit next to her she wouldn't say no.

She smiled at him. "Yeah, alright."

"Really?" He asked, shocked at the fact she'd agreed for some reason.

"Yeah, of course I'll sit next to you." Fred opened his mouth to say something, but Mina's eyes moved over his shoulder to someone making their way towards them.

"Fred!"

They both flinched, but each of them missed the others expression.

"I guess you've got to go," Fred looked at her mournfully, and she wondered for a minute what he was going to say before his name was yelled again. "I'll see you next week alright?"

She smiled at him as she walked away.

Faintly she could hear him reply, "Yeah, alright."

She took another bite of her ice cream, her mood significantly lifted from it this morning. She knew he was with someone, but a small part of her couldn't help but feel hopeful at the thought of him asking to sit next to her.

* * *

 _ **Guess who just wrote about 6 pages of work for all her classes after doing all her readings and then realized she still had a chapter to write for update day. It's me, wooooo. So, not sure how this will turn out because honestly I'm a little fatigued from writing so much. Like, not gonna lie, I'm a little out of it, to the point where I was skimming my textbook so bad I had to put it down... and I'll have to get back to it eventually. We'll see how it goes, and if it's bad I can always fix it at the end of this fic when I go in and do major damage control, yes? Yes.**_

 _ **I'm feeling more put together this week than last week (not being hit by another car will kinda do that) despite the work load I've got, but I'm trying to get ahead on school work so that way in the middle of the semester I'm not too tied up to write this ff. How are you guys in school doing, are you holding up okay? Whether it's high school or college (I'd throw middle school in there, but I don't think I've got middle schoolers reading this), let me know if you're already starting to get overwhelmed or not, because I can tell you that I am just the slightest bit. And those of you no longer in school can rub it in our faces, at not having to go through this mess anymore.**_

 ** _Also, I totally had a hard time writing sherbet, because I pronounce it sherbert - despite it totally not being spelled like that, which I didn't know until recently. In my defense, everyone around me also pronounces it the same way._**


	44. Chapter 44

"Mina," she heard a voice calling after her in the halls, but she wasn't able to make out who it was through the loud crowd of first years coming out of history of magic next to where she was sitting on a bench. She shrugged and went back to her homework, thinking that if it was really important, then whoever would find her later. Sure enough, her name was called again.

"Mina!"

She looked up to see Fred's lanky body pushing between two first years going in for a kiss, his hair flopping back and forth as they began to yell at him. He ignored them, instead choosing to make his way over to her with a cheeky grin on her face. She tried fighting the giggle working its way on her, but judging how his smile widened, he picked up on it.

Eventually he was able to slide next to her on the bench. He looked at what she was doing, picked her herbology essay up in his hand, and gave her a weird look.

"What are you doing?" He asked accusatorily, but shook his head and dropped the paper back on her book, not wanting to get into how she shouldn't be doing homework at such an exciting time. "Never mind. Don't forget, you promised you'd sit next to me today."

Warm, fuzzy feelings buzzed in her chest as she looked at him. The fact he'd come to double check she would made her think maybe, just maybe she had a chance with him. That maybe him and Angelina were on the rocks and he wanted someone different. It wasn't a great thing to hope for considering they were both her friends, but as long as she never acted on it she wasn't really in the wrong, right?

"Oh," she started off with a laugh, putting her essay in her book and closing it, "I don't remember making a promise that I would."

"Well, let me think," he put his hand to his chin, bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling for a second, before he quickly replied. "Nope, I'm pretty sure you promised."

"Alright, a promises' a promise," his smile broadened, and before he was able to stand up she finished her thought. "But I want something in return."

"What could Mina Donnelly want?" He said, humor heavy on his voice as he playfully teased her.

 _Break up with your girlfriend._

 _Date me._

"Next Hogsmeade. We should hangout, just you and me. We barely see each other anymore."

"Well let me think on it," he pulled the same face he made a moment ago and replied even quicker. "Yes."

"Great."

"Great."

He stood up and moved to walk away, but turned and walked backwards at some point to yell at her.

"Don't forget, Donnelly."

"I won't," she yelled back, and she bit her tongue to hide how big she was smiling.

He turned back around, walked by the first years now making out, leaving her by herself.

It wasn't a date, but it was something. Maybe he'd see how amazing she was, or they'd bond over something that can just be their thing. Maybe she would confess to him.

The mere thought made her giddy.

She liked Angelina well enough, but she had to do something, and she didn't want to just sit around anymore. The worst case he would say he didn't like her back like that, and while she didn't like that she wanted this secret out. She was tired of carrying it around with her and hiding it everytime he looked at her.

For once, she had hope and she didn't care about what happened.

And _that_ was a dangerous combination.

* * *

Walking to the first task Mina had to all but stop herself from giggling and skipping. She had changed from the last time he saw her, slipping to jeans and a pullover sweater and pulled her hair out of its ponytail. She looked and felt good. The confidence did good for her ego, it made her feel like she was untouchable. Like nothing would go wrong.

"Ms. Donnelly!"

Nope.

She wanted to take it back.

Turn and run and pretend she hadn't heard her name called. Knock on wood as soon as the thought entered her head. But the voice belonged to Madam Pomfrey, and if there was a serious emergency she knew she would need help. But maybe, just maybe, all she wanted to do was tell her to have fun.

Slowly, she turned around, and watched the woman run towards her, still slightly out of breath.

"Oh don't you look nice," she paused for a second, looking at what she was wearing. "I do hope you don't have any plans."

"Well, actually-"

"Because I could use your assistance in the champions tent."

She wanted to tell her no. She wanted to lie and say she had homework to do. But Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be asking her for help unless she needed it.

"What do you need help with?" She asked with a sigh, already coming up with plans on how quickly she could run from the hospital wing to her seat next to Fred. Madam Pomfrey made a gesture with her head to follow her, and she began talking as she walked.

"As you know the Triwizard Tournament is very dangerous."

There was enough pause that Mina began to wonder if she was supposed to jump in with some sort of knowledge she didn't have.

"Yeah," she offered meekly, not totally sure she liked where this was going.

"I have to standby in case of emergencies. It would really be helpful if you were there too. Not only for the champions, but there have been cases of audience members fainting and if that happens I'll need an extra hand." Mina tried to pipe in with some sort of excuse, _but Madam Pomfrey true love is on the line right now,_ but the older woman quickly finished her thought. "And it would be great practice and help you decide if you want to peruse a career at St. Mungos. I know this is the year where you students start looking into what you want to do after Hogwarts."

Mina fell behind, but quickly caught back up with her, caught off guard.

St. Mungos.

Of course she wanted to be a healer. Every fiber of her being yearned for it, she wanted to be able to help people.

But right now she also _really_ wanted to go sit next to Fred, and scoot too close to him when something exciting happened. Maybe accidentally grab his hand when something shocking happens.

She took a moment and closed her eyes, taking a calming breath to push back the headache she could feel coming on. She liked Fred. She really, _really_ did. But enough to jeopardize her future? She didn't even know how he felt about her. Would she throw her future away for a boy?

Mina knew the answer to the question before she had even asked herself it.

No.

Of course she wouldn't.

She let out another sigh, this one forlorn.

"What do you need me to do?"

* * *

The champions tent was way less exciting than she thought it would be. It was big, sure, but other than that, it wasn't anything particularly special. The most interesting thing was the people in it.

She knew Harry and Cedric, one more nervous looking than the other, but she only just recognized the others. Fleur and Viktor look like forces to be reckoned with, and she was too afraid to go over and make small talk with them. Yet, she wasn't too eager to go and talk to her fellow Hogwarts students. She barely knew Cedric, and Harry, the only person she knew, was talking to Rita Skeeter. Or, rather, being talked at by Rita Skeeter. Instead, she awkwardly moved stuff around waiting for something to happen or for someone to tell her what she was supposed to be doing.

All of a sudden Hermione was in the room, and her and Viktor were telling Rita Skeeter off for bugging Harry. When she turned, she was surprised by Nikolai sneaking into the tent.

"Mina, what are you doing here?" the surprise was evident on his face. She raised an eyebrow towards him.

" _I'm_ here to help in case of an accident. What are _you_ doing here?" His eyes drifted older her shoulder and she had half a mind to turn and see what he was looking at.

"I'm here to wish Viktor good luck. We're friends."

"Ah," a small smirk grew on her lips, and Nikolai looked suspicious of the look she was giving him. "Your friends or are you _friends?"_

"What?" he was confused, and then his voice grew a little defensive. "No, we're just friends. Viktor has never once batted for my team, as far as I know."

She shrugged. "Alright. You should go say what you need to before it starts then." He said a quick word of thanks and left with a pat to her arm, already making his way across the room to give Viktor a hug. His words were too soft for her to hear.

She turned away, feeling like she was spying on some sort of moment between the two of them, only to see Dumbledore coming through the opening of the tent with an entourage of teachers with him. She spied Madam Pomfrey and quickly went to stand by her, unsure of what else to do. He began by telling everyone who was not a champion to leave the tent, and with that Hermione and Rita Skeeter each gave Harry a look before leaving. Nikolai gave Vikor a hug, as he whispered something in his ear, and then he belligerently left the tent with worry on his face. Mina's eyes followed his slowly retreating figure, before she whispered to Madam Pomfrey that she would be back in a moment.

It didn't take much to catch up with him, as he was hovering around the outside of the tent, biting on of his fingernails as he stared off into space.

"Hey, are you alright?"

He jumped after a second, not realizing she had joined him, and ran his hand through his hair in an attempt to hide his nerves. "Oh, yeah. I'll be fine."

"Why didn't you tell me you two were friends? This has gotta be incredibly hard for you."

"Not friends, really," he paused, before looking back to her with a serious look on his face. "He's my step brother. Er- my almost step brother. His dad is engaged with my mom."

Mina blinked for a moment before she regained her metaphorical footing. "You don't mention her often."

"Yeah, she disappeared a few years ago. We were worried that death eaters for You Know Who maybe had kidnapped her. Her sister was a big supporter of him. But she turned up not too long after, galavanting around France with a new _friend_." His voice snapped at the last word, disgust dripping off of it. "I didn't think this thing with his dad would stick, but I've certainly been wrong about things before. And if anything it gives me something to complain about with Viktor."

She watched him for a moment, how his eyes stared off and how she could feel the angry tension rolling off of him.

Her heart broke for her friend.

"Look," her eyes perused their surroundings, and when she found no one nearby she was continued. "Let's wait here for a moment. After that, you can come back into the tent with me and I can tell Madam Pomfrey you're interested in exploring your options of being a healer. She'll vouch for you then."

His face lit up, and he quickly moved in for a hug.

"Mina, have I ever told you that you're great?"

"No, but it certainly does sound nice. Maybe say it a few more times?"

* * *

At the time, it seemed like a great idea. Of course, let Nikolai sit in the champions tent and watch Viktor. Now, sitting over him as he lay passed out on a bed, she felt differently.

Whether it was the excitement or shock at Viktor almost dying she didn't know.

What she did know is that she was hovering over him as she gently slapped his face, and getting no response.

"Nikolai," she said, but when he didn't stir she said it again with no force. "Nikolai, get up." She stared at him for a moment longer before making up her mind. "Okay, this is gonna hurt." She slapped him more forcefully this time, her tone more aggressive now. "Nikolai."

Slowly his eyes opened and a low groan came out of his mouth.

"Mina, as much as I love hearing you say my name," his voice croaked out," I'm going to need to you to cool it for a minute."

Mina held him down when he tried to sit up, knowing it'd be bad for him to try it so soon. Instead, she helped him drink some water and waited until he was comfortable to talk.

"What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that."

"Well," he paused, taking in his surroundings. "The last thing I remember is Viktor competing and then..." he drew out, before wiping a palm over his face. "Mina, don't tell me I passed out."

She gave him a weak smile and he groaned once more.

"How long?"

"Harry's just gone out. He's the last one." His face balked, and he stared up at the ceiling. "Nikolai I-"

"Mina, I do very much love how you say my name," he started out again, slipping a smile onto his face as he glanced at her. "But I think we've officially reached the point where you can call me a nickname."

Mina raised an eyebrow.

She knew he was deflecting, instead using his humor to cover the issue, but she decided to give him a pass.

"I didn't know you had a nickname. Why didn't you say anything?"

He looked at her, the smile playing on his face and she could almost hear gears in his head working double time. "I don't. But, when you're trying to wake me up, it does sound like a mouthful, doesn't it? Let's hear you say Niko and we'll find out."

She sighed. "Nikolai look-"

"Uh uh uh," a finger pointed at her. "Niko."

"Niko," she huffed, before continuing. "I get it might be uncomfortable, but deflecting doesn't solve anything. You should talk about what just happened."

He moved to stand up, much to Mina's dismay, and slowly began the process of gathering his stuff. "I'm not deflecting anything, I was surprised and had to have a sudden nap. That's all."

"But-"

He turned to her, his mouth in a line.

"Look, Mina, I appreciate the concern, and when and if I do want to talk about it you'll be the first person I go to, but now isn't the time." He was standing now and the color had begun to return to his face. Mina trailed after him as he made his way out of the tent. She could hear cheering, and could only assume the first event was over, but she had no time for much more than the thought.

"Niko-"

"Yeah, that's it."

"What?" she stopped confused.

"The nickname works. Good job," he placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her. Mina didn't think she had ever been more confused. He seemed fidgety, like something was wrong and he was trying to hide it.

Why was he acting so weird?

He should be sitting down longer, clearly he wasn't quite right.

"Alright, nice talk. See you later, bye." Before she knew it he was gone, leaving her lone at the opening of the champions tent completely bewildered.

What in Merlin's name just happened?

* * *

Fred was always excited to have an excuse to not go to class. So the opportunity to watch some action with Mina sitting next to him was amazing. As they slowly filed into the seats, his eyes scanned for her, trying to appear nonchalant if she were to walk up, despite the fact he had two popcorns in hand. One for each of them.

She couldn't be long, he could've sworn he had seen her by the champions tent earlier.

When Mina didn't show up right away, Fred wasn't too worried. Sure she was normally punctual, but maybe he was wrong about seeing her in the crowd. Maybe she had gotten held back in a class, or had gotten wrangled into helping someone who had gotten hurt. It was a very Mina thing to do. When she didn't show up for the first champion, his mind wandered to the empty seat beside him, working himself slowly into a more and more anxious state.

Maybe he had come across too flirty.

Maybe she couldn't think of a way to let him down gently, instead deciding to not show up. She was dating someone after all, why did he think it would work. If that was the case, he should respect her and Nikolai.

Mina was his friend, and even though he liked her he would put his feelings aside for her happiness.

And Nikolai... well, he seemed like... a guy.

But when she didn't turn up for the last one his anxiety turned to genuine worry for her wellbeing. It wasn't like her to not let him know if she was going to be held up. Even if she was going to ditch him, because she was seeing someone she would've made some excuse to give him. She could be in trouble. His mind flashed to her breakdown the other day. She could be stuck, left with only her thoughts, and no one to talk her out of her inner spiral.

When the task was over, he was didn't even have the energy to celebrate, all his mental energy was put into worrying about her. He pushed through the crowd anxious to track someone who knew where she was down when he looked up, and there she was.

Outside the champions tent, with Nikolai's arm on her. He flashed her a smile as they were talking, and Fred's blood began to boil.

Mina blew him off?

To hang out with her boyfriend of all people. It would have been one thing if she had told him, but she promised she would sit next to him. He felt genuinely hurt. It wasn't okay to do something like that. And then a thought crossed his mind.

Did he tell her to avoid him?

A scowl formed on his face. Was he that threatened by any other guy in her life, that he would tell her to ignore her friends because they were guys. Or was it just him.

His scowl furthered.

Did he know that he like Mina and _that_ was why she had avoided him today, because her boyfriend told her to and she blindly listened.

 _She blew me off to go hang out with him. Doing Merlin knows what._

One would assume it couldn't be possible for Fred to scowl any more, but somehow he managed to pull it off. The thought that she could have been hooking up with him, laughing at his expense the whole time was the final straw.

He could see her eyes meet his, as a smile lit up her face as she called after him, like he didn't know what she was doing.

He turned, and walked away ignoring her calling after him.

Two could play that game.

* * *

 ** _Hey guys! I'd like to address a review I got. My first reaction with it was to be very defensive, because no one likes having their work criticized ya know, but I've calmed down and the things that were said were valid and things I've thought myself so I thought I should address them in case anyone else has also thought it._**

 ** _The review largely talks about the story feeling slow and that there's a lot of build up with little pay off, as well as little character development, and I'll be honest I agree. A part of it I think is that I write such short chapters, so there's only so much I can write in a given week and sometimes end up going around in a circle with myself. Ideally, this is something I would aim to fix in the rewrite. Either by mashing scenes together or taking things out_** ** _completely, and I know I'll eventually be editing the chapters to make them longer each in the end (just not as many chapters as we have now or will have end game. Quality over quantity)_**

 ** _I know, I can't say I'll fix these things and keep pushing it off for the rewrite, because that is kind of a lame answer. I'll try to work towards it now, although I've got a limited point of view and time in the now to really do it on a big scale. My idea for the moment is to do the best I can, lay down the foundation and walls, and ultimately edit 2-3 times after that to really develop the characters and their feelings while also not making the story feel like it's at a standstill. Again, I'll do the best that I can now, but some of the stuff I've written has slowed it down considerably that only a good couple of edits can really fix the major issues with this._**

 ** _I encourage you guys to always review as you feel is right, especially when you all continue to be so nice and kind about it, and I'll do my best to not take it too personally and actually listen. Love you guys, and thanks for continually making me want to be a better writer. XXXXX_**


	45. Chapter 45

Mina was hoping to run into Fred. That's what she told herself as she stood looking at the portrait that led into the Gryffindor common room for the second year in a row. She almost found it funny that fate had brought her back to a Gryffindor party vying for the attention of a guy she liked. Although, she hoped this time around the results were different.

She greeted the painted lady, asked on her singing, and when a group of kids came by with the password, she slipped through the door.

Looking around, Mina was able to see she was far from the only non-Gryffindor there. Sure, there was a sea of bodies covered in red cheering as they pushed past one another, but she saw flashes of blue, yellow, and even green. Not as much as she thought would be here, but she assumed everyone else was making their way to the Hufflepuff common room for the other half of Hogwarts celebrating their champions. The room was still packed.

Her eyes roamed over the crowd, hoping she'd see a familiar mop of red hair, but there was only so much she could see from the tops of her toes. She fell back on her heels and blew out an annoyed breath.

Turning around she almost ran straight into someone. She looked up and had never been so glad to see him.

"Percy!"

He gave her a weird look. "Mina, what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Fred, have you seen him anywhere?"

He shook his head. "No, I meant what are you doing the the Gryffindor common room. You shouldn't be in here." She raised an eyebrow at him, but hardly thought it would help to point out all the other students from other houses in the room. Over his shoulder she caught sight of a familiar head.

"Uh, yeah you're right. I'll go back to my common room. Thanks Percy." She was sure he was lecturing her as she walked away, but if he was, she wasn't hearing a word of what he was saying.

"Fred!"

He didn't turn around and she found herself growing frustrated. Surely, he had heard her? But, she also thought he would've heard her earlier after the first event and yet, he hadn't shown any signs of hearing it then.

"Fred," she put a hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "George?"

She was sure he could hear the confusion in his voice.

"In the flesh," he flashed her a smile as his eyes drifted over her shoulder. He picked up on her watchinghim and took a sip of his drink.

"Have you seen Fred anywhere?"

His eyes drifted behind her for a second before he answered. "Fred? Don't think I know anyone by the name."

"George, I'm serious-"

"Hi serious, it's nice to meet you," he shook her hand, and made to walk away quickly. She put an arm out and managed to keep him, to his dismay.

"Okay, what's going on? Why are you acting weird?"

"I'm not acting weird," he said in a weird tone. "You are."

She found her patience waning.

"George," she stood as tall as she could and looked him in the eye. "Where's Fred?"

His eyes went behind her again. She raised an eyebrow and turned her head, just catching him standing by the doorway of the common room. She moved to go talk to him, but this time George stopped her.

"I wouldn't."

"Why not?" It came out somewhere between a snap and a whine. He winced, and she wanted to apologize, but a bigger part of her was irritated.

"He's..." he took a moment, trying to find the right words, "not in a good mood." She sent another look his way, after glancing at Fred to see he was doing shots.

"He looks fine."

George shook his head. "No he's not. I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to talk to him right now."

She watched him for a moment before it clicked.

"For someone in general to talk to him, or for _me_ to talk to him?" He opened his mouth to talk, but when nothing came out she found her answer. "Well, if he's got a problem with me, he can talk about it with me. I've been trying to find him since the event to explain that Madam Pomfrey needed my help."

George raised an eyebrow at her, but when he didn't speak, she turned away again. He didn't stop her this time.

Mina was frustrated to say the least. That only doubled when Fred ducked out the door. She wasn't sure if he saw her and was actively avoiding her, or if it was her terrible sense of luck. She cursed all the options as she speedily pushed past kids who were gathering to encourage someone else to take shots. The hallway didn't offer much more than the crowded common room at a glance. Then she saw Fred turn the corner, and she yelled after him.

"Fred!"

He stopped confused, as if he wasn't sure he had actually heard someone call after him, but when she called his name a second time it was clear that wasn't the case.

His mouth formed a silent 'you?', although Mina was in such a rush to get to him that she hadn't caught it. She also hadn't caught his expression souring, until she was in front of him and she noticed the frown he was giving her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you. Well, I also tried talking to you earlier, but I don't think you heard me, Fred-"

"Oh, I heard you."

Mina pulled a face at the words. Maybe she had heard him wrong, or he misspoke. Either way, she continued with her apology.

"Okay, Fred. I am so sorry. I tried finding a way to tell you earlier, but Madam Pomfrey needed me on hand in case of a medical emergency. If I could've been there, I would have," she studied his face, as he listened intently. His frown relaxed for a moment, before he stumbled upon a thought and it reemerged. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, making his expression turn hard.

"Yeah, right."

There was no mistaking it that time.

The words came out sharp, and enunciated, with a slight throaty laugh that made her stomach grow weary.

He was upset.

"Fred, is everything alright?" she asked earnestly, concern springing upon her face in a way that only worsened his features.

"I'm dandy," he spit, anger fueling his words. "Except, that instead of just telling me the truth you would come here and lie to my face, and stand there like you don't have a problem with it." Confusion spread on her face, which only seemed to make him more upset. "I know." The words were red hot, and if she could physically touch them she would've been burned on to spot. "That you were with _him_."

Tension hung in the air, making the distance between them feel like a thousand miles instead of just a few inches.

She didn't know who he was referring to or where this was coming from, but if he thought she was about to speak, he didn't let her. There was something else in his tone, that she couldn't quite figure out what it was, that told her to let him speak.

"I can't believe you would ditch me, so you could, what? Go make out with your boyfriend?" He let out a laugh, but it was cold. A chill came over her at it, but she was frozen in place.

He thought she had a boyfriend?

He seemed to interpret her expression differently. "Yeah, I know. Thought you could string poor Fred along, huh? You two probably laugh over it. _Oh, poor Fred would never have a chance with Mina. You should just blow him off until he gets the hint._ Or, until he sees both of you in each others arms, after a promise to show up. But who would spare a thought for Fred's feelings."

Mina stood still, her mind working overtime to process what he was saying.

He was hurt, yes, and that was something she should address. But, her stomach did flips at his other words. _Fred would never have a chance with Mina._ Did... did he have feelings for her? Was that what he was so upset about? That he thought they had a chance togehter and instead she ditched him for a quick makeout session? Her heart ached for him. She wanted to tell him how much she cared for him, how it wasn't true. Mina wanted to date him more than anything, and if he was feeling jealous he should just talk with her about it.

Still, little voices echoed her worries. _What about Angelina?_ How could he possibly be so worked up over what he thought was her being with someone, if he had a girlfriend? Why not break up with her first before doing anything. She had a multitude of things to say to him, to acknowedlege his feelings or her fears, or anything, but instead she asked him the one question that would help netiher of them.

"Are you drunk?"

"No," he slurred. "Maybe. Doesn't matter. What is important is that you didn't just come to me and say ' _oh Fred, I think you're a great guy, and it's very sweet how you feel, but I'm in a relationship'."_

"How do you feel?"

The question slipped out of her lips so fast she hadn't even realized she had asked it. He let out an agitated breath, as he threw an arm to the wall to steady himself, and ran the other one threw his hair.

"I'm pissed. I'm furious that two people would think this was an okay thing to do. I'm upset, because it's not fair. Not only because this happened, but because of how upset I am over this. But mostly, I'm upset," his jaw clenched for a moment as his eyes roamed her face. He spoke back up in a gentler tone. "I'm upset because, despite all of that, all I'm able to think of is that I hate how soul shattering it is when you look sad. That, somehow, I'm the one causing you this pain. And it just makes me angry at myself, because you're so beautiful. And I like you so, so much, and all I want to do right now is kiss you, but I can't because you're dating Nikolai."

Silence hung in the air, as her brain froze.

is broken.

Slowly, she begged herself to say anything as they gazed at each other, both of them surprised at his words.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"He's not?" He asked, disbelief heavy on his voice. She was having a hard time breathing, her heart was beating so fast in her chest, she was just barely able to shake her head.

"No," She let out softly, like a whisper.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

They stood there, alone in the hallway, unsure of what to do. Mina realized how close they were and a blush warmed her cheeks as she looked down. When she looked back up, she was surprised by Fred intently studying her. He licked his lips before he spoke.

"Well, I'd still really like to kiss you."

A small grin spread on her face. "I'd really like it if you did that too."

They both smiled crazily, and slowly he leaned in towards her, when he paused. She was about to ask what was wrong when he put a hand to his mouth and turned away from her to be sick. Mina was a little upset, but moreso she felt bad for him. She put a comforting hand on his back, hoping she was helping, at a loss for what to do without any tonics with her.

"This is not how I pictured our first kiss would be like," he mumbled miserably.

"Technically, we've already had a first kiss."

His ears flushed, and she giggled at the blush appearing on his face, despite the fact she could feel one of her own forming. Eventually he stood up, feeling a little better, and the two of them made their way back into the common room to find George.

They found him, and he did little to hide his surprise at the two of them showing up together.

"He got sick," she explained, although not the question he without a doubt had. "Do you think you can help him get to bed?"

He nodded his head, but Fred pushed him off for a second.

"Mina, " he leaned down, and in a quiet tone spoke to her. "I really like you."

She had a hard time wiping the grin off of her face.

"I really like you too." She spared a glance at George, who awkwardly hovered and looked away, trying to give them space. "But I'll like you even more when you aren't sick." She placed a hand on his check and he leaned into it. "Come find me in the morning when you're feeling better and we can talk."

He hummed in response.

Mina caught a glimpse of him as he went up the stairs, and the both of them smiled at each other like idiots until George eventually pulled him closer to bed.

That night Mina laid in bed, her mind racing with possibilities.

Her and Fred liked each other. He _finally_ knew how she felt. She was elated.

She fell asleep, thinking of the possibilities to come.

* * *

 ** _Imma be real, this chapter was supposed to have another bit to it (we were supposed to see in the morning) but it's currently 1:40 and Daylight Savings happens at 2 and I decided it's not happening._**

 _ **We'll see it next week, there will just be a shorter chapter. Although this works out since I've got so much going on through the week.**_


	46. Chapter 46

The world was too bright for how early it was. Fred threw his blanket over his head with a grunt towards whoever opened the curtain in the room. The prodding he felt, along with the not so quiet whispering of his brother, made him even more agitated. With a breath, and a snappish response, he was left alone.

Another agitated sigh came from his lips as he rolled over. He did it again, his sigh louder.

He was pissed.

Fred was furious with the world for being so bright and loud. The effects of the alcohol, he may or may not have had last night, were taking hold of him. His problems from the previous day washed over him to his dismay as he turned yet again.

He was upset with Nikolai, for his stupid face and his stupid fancy hair, and for him talking Mina into avoiding him yesterday. For talking her into just not telling him that she wasn't interested. That she should just completely drop their friendship like it was nothing. He was frustrated with Mina for going along with her stupid little boyfriend. He was upset with himself for being upset, for having gotten so invested in his feelings that he's only gotten hurt.

Most of all, he was angry that he drank so much that these thoughts drilled through his head, doing nothing to alleviate the migraine he had. His head hurt as bad as it did last night, when Harry's stupid egg thing started screaming. Which, coincidentally, was the last thing he could remember.

He ran his hand over his face.

He could only hope he didn't do anything stupid.

* * *

"So you guy's are cool, then?"

Mina's smile more than spoke for the question, but she still answered it as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. I think we're more than cool."

"Okay," Nikolai replied, a smile working its way on his face as he studied the cheesy look she had on hers. "I was nervous at first, I'll be honest. From what you were saying, he was very rude to you, but if it was just a misunderstanding, then it was just a misunderstanding."

"He said he liked me," her voice was small, but her happiness was written on her face. Nikolai had a look of shock on his face.

"And what did you say?"

"I told him I liked him back," she ran a hand through her hair. Nikolai let out a whoop, disturbing some of the students near them, and Mina laughed.

He bumped his shoulder with hers as they continued their walk to the Great Hall. "Took you long enough." She rolled her eyes, but it was hard to avoid the giggle that came from her. "Speaking of the man himself."

Mina's eye excitedly glanced up, eager to find Fred.

There he was at the other end of the hall. She felt bad. Last night must've taken a harder toll on him than she thought, he looked like he felt miserable. His hair was disheveled, and the bags under his eyes were easy to spot from across the hall. He also looked like he had left his clothes on from the night before. Nikolai seemed to pick up on her urge to go and talk to him.

"Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do," he paused, "Maybe don't do anything I would do either." He shook his head, and Mina ignored his laugh at the blush on her face. She faintly caught the 'good luck' from him as she walked away from him.

"Hey," she said, and he walked past her. She furrowed her eyebrows. Maybe she had been too quiet?

She jogged to catch up to him, and tried again. "Hey."

He stopped and looked at her intensely.

"Hi."

They stood in front of the open doors to the Great Hall, as Mina tried to find the right words. Should she go in flirty? She was overthinking it all.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." His eyes focused into the Hall behind her, and she felt confused as to why he was acting weird.

"After last night I mean?" The gaze of his eyes was cool and hard as they landed on her.

"I'm great. My night was great," his voice carried an edge, although Mina missed out on it. He bit out his next words,"You probably had a good night with your boyfriend."

Mina let out a small laugh as a blush made its way back onto her face.

Is that what they were?

She looked down and ran a hand through her hair, missing his eyes glaring at her. "My night wasn't bad."

Fred's mood soured even more. Now she was just rubbing it his face. "Great," he started, and he missed the excited look in her eyes, "then why don't you go tell it to someone who cares."

He brushed past her, roughly bumping her shoulder, as he walked into the Hall, leaving Mina confused at the entrance. She silently watched him, until he found a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Angelina. She warmed up to him immediately and Mina didn't realize she was frowning.

Was she just a joke to him?

A toy for him to play with, as if she didn't feel pain like any other human being? She could feel herself getting worked up, but she wanted to fester in her anger.

What kind of person would confess feelings to someone, let the other confess feelings back, and then ignore them completely the next day? How cruel would a person have to be to think that was an okay thing to do? To have a conversation knowing what had been said the night before, the feelings she thought they had shared, and to take those back without even an explanation? And to snub her, to go and sit next to someone, to flirt with someone else in front of her eyes? She studied them, wondering if they were laughing at her expense, at how funny it was for him to fake a confession.

The bitterness pursed her mouth into an angry expression.

She turned away from the doors of the hall. Mina couldn't believe she would have any feelings for anyone so cruel.

She felt heartbroken, she felt most of all, she felt longer would she feel anything other than hate towards Fred Weasley. Her heart ached, but it understood her cause.

Mina was done.

* * *

 _ **Continuation of last weeks chapter here.**_

 _ **So, I'm thinking with the rewrite that I want to make Mina and Fred not like each other the full length of Azkaban. Really beef up their interactions, how they feel, so that way their pining doesn't feel like it's going on for so long (like now where it's the entire length of Azkaban, and then the first half of the GoF). I think it'd also land better when I come to swing this anxiety/bad blood around again (hey ya'll... listen... we'll get that sweet sweet relationship one day... but today is not that day...) and it just makes the angst more because they were pining but now they're angry and don't know how to feel.**_

 _ **The rewrite still feels like a ways off, despite me knowing that the rest of the books will go by so much quicker, but I am already throughly excited to go back and fix my plot issues and urge character development forward, and throw in my sub plots (I haven't forgotten about you Anne and Ben, I am so busy but I swear when I come back around ya'll are gonna get so much love). Just thinking about rewriting the main characters, Fred and Mina, and how I want to change them up, make them more interactive and have different views and everything is exciting. Although, I don't want to change them too much, some personality never hurt anybody.**_

 _ **Anything else we want to see happen during the rewrite? I've got a list going now along my plot notes. Angelina will become an OC, plot will move quicker and not have so much filler, I want to round out my characters and throw some stuff in for the side characters not getting as much love. Let me know if anything comes to mind so that I can take them into consideration.**_


	47. Chapter 47

Confusion swirled over Anne as she mentally tried to piece the puzzle of Mina's love life together.

She trailed behind Fred, hoping he'd give an indication to what was actually happening. As if he had known he was being followed, he went about his normal life, not willing to spare Anne any of the sweet, sweet clues she needed. With a sigh, she realized she'd have to go about a different route.

She'd have to get a little bit closer to the issue.

It was incredibly hard to track down a Weasley at this time of day. It was almost like they all knew she was on the hunt for them, but she knew it was more likely their habit of getting in trouble that kept them away. Yet, when she happened upon one, she pounced.

* * *

Outside the halls to the Gryffindor common room, the last person Ginny expected to run into was Anne.

She barely even knew the girl, besides the fact she was Mina's friend and enjoyed playing matchmaker around Hogwarts. So when she accidentally caught her eye, she was surprised to see the level of excitement on her face as she rushed towards her.

"Hi! Sorry, Ginny can I borrow you?"

Her friends gave her a confused glance, but a nod sent them on their way. Alone and awkward, it was evident to both of them that this was unusual.

"So," Anne started, running a hand through her red hair, as if that would alleviate the tension," I'm just going to come out with it. I'm running an investigation and I could use some help."

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Investigation?"

She received a sharp nod in return. "Investigation. Very important. _May_ pertain to one of your family members."

Exasperation rolled over her. The last thing she wanted was to get wrapped up in family drama.

"Look, if one of my brothers did something to you, I'm sorry. But I really don't want to get involved if Percy took points away from you, or if the twins pranked you, or if Ron - well, if Ron was being Ron."

Anne threw up a hand to stop her from walking away.

"Wait no it's not that. Well, yes and no." Ginny gave her an expectant look, and Anne took this as her opening. "I'm looking into Fred in particular. I think somethings going on with his love life that isn't as it should."

She should've known she was scheming.

Anne was practically famous at Hogwarts for getting herself into the love lives of others, and she wasn't about to let her go off and mess around with one of her brothers.

"No," she shook her head. "Nope, you're not messing around with his life. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's interested in Mina. Why don't you go talk to her about it?"

She started walking away, but Anne called after her.

"That's why I'm looking into it. Mina's convinced he's dating someone."

 _Walk away Ginny. Just do it. You don't actually have to know about it._ Ginny pleaded with herself. But after a minute of not moving, she turned back around with a sigh.

"What do you mean she's convinced he's dating someone?"

Anne's face lit up, and Ginny wondered what she just got herself into. "How much do you know about Angelina?"

* * *

The talk with Ginny didn't go very far.

As it turns out, her brothers weren't very keen to talk about their love interests with her. What she did find out, however, was that Ginny also thought Fred and Mina were incredibly into each other. At least, at the end of last year anyways.

"I can think on it, but the change definitely happened over the break," Ginny shook her head in frustration like she was having a hard time remembering something. "I just, ugh, I feel like I'm forgetting something. Is there someone else we can talk to about this?"

Proud to have recruited Ginny into her ranks, Anne had to only think for a minute before she had someone in mind.

"Yeah, I think he'll be pretty helpful actually."

* * *

Sweet, predictable Aidan was not hard to track down.

As if he could sense he was being tracked down, and hunted for his sweet, succulent information, his sense of peace seemed to pass. In fact, Anne could almost see the moment he realized he was no longer alone. Looking up from his book, his smile morphed into a look of fear as he registered the looks on the two girls faces. He could not physically grab his stuff fast enough to be out from their grasp.

"Anne, please no," he tried, giving up on shoving his book in his bag, instead opting to grab all his things loose and back away from them. "I don't know what's going on, but you scare me when you get like this."

He kept backing, but he had been so focused on Anne that he had backed straight into Ginny. He let out a small yell, despite the girl being shorter than him, and it took him only a moment to realize he had lost. Defeated, he sat back down.

"What do you want?" his voice came dejected.

"We've got some questions for you, Aidan," Anne's voice cooly responded, not looking at him as she circled him slowly. He swallowed a gulp of air. Anne took this as an invitation. "What do you know about Fred's love life?"

He let out a nervous laugh at the idea of all this bing over someone's relationships, but a quick look from Anne shut him up.

"What do you want to know?"

"When did you first know he liked Mina?"

Another laugh escaped his lips. It wasn't exactly like it was a secret, with the way those two flirted over each other all last year, but he was also told in secrecy. On the other hand, Anne was scaring him.

"He asked me about her back when she liked Oliver Wood. I didn't know he was talking about her at the time and gave him advice about going after you," Anne's face morphed into disgust for a moment, but he kept going, "don't tell him I told you. I know they're practically there, but I wouldn't want him to think I would just give his secrets out willingly."

"First, ew. I can't believe you'd try to set me up with Fred Weasley." Ginny cleared her throat. "Anyways, you're telling me you _knew_ Mina like Oliver, you _knew_ I was trying to help her end up with him, and you helped him to get close with Mina."

"Like I said I didn't know he was talking about her. But I didn't do much more than that," he bit the inside of his cheek, before adding quieter. "Except that, Alicia and I purposefully brought them both along to hang out even when we didn't need them so they would end up together."

"What!"

Aidan shrunk in on himself, expecting Anne to blow up at him. Instead he was surprised when two arms came on either side of him, holding him in a tight embrace. "Why didn't you tell me! You little matchmaker, you!" She backed up and looked him in the eye, "don't get it wrong, I'm still very upset you'd go against Mina's wishes to do this, but look at you getting involved."

"I wouldn't put in her a situation she didn't want to go into. She probably just thought we were all hanging out. But... it was a relief when she decided she liked Fred."

"Okay and after that?"

"What do you mean after that? As far as I know they're still hopelessly pining after each other?"

"What do you mean _what do you mean._ There's no way you managed to escape the wrath of Hurricane Relationship Drama." Aidan gave her another confused look, and Ginny stepped up from her spot against the wall, after having quietly watching him the entire time.

"I think he's telling the truth."

Anne looked between the both of them for a moment.

"If you're telling the truth then I'm going to say one thing," Aidan watched her closely, hoping he wasn't about to be sent on a mission to find things out," stay clear of it. We're too far gone, but you, there's still hope for you."

"Anne, enough with the joking. What's going on between them?"

"It's entirely too complicated to go over it all right now. I'll tell you as soon as we figure out some more of it," Anne had already started walking away, Ginny following her. "Say hi to Alicia for me!"

Aidan was left in the hall with only a headache and his book as company.

* * *

"I know where George will be!"

Ginny was proving to be a surprisingly helpful resource, Anne was finding as they weaved in the halls outside to the herbology classroom. In it were a few students, one of which was the one of the Weasley's she had been trying to track down earlier.

"George," he looked up when Ginny called him, and gestured them over to where he was working with a tilt of his head.

"Ginny," he looked up to see Anne in tow," Anne. What brings you here? Have an interest in herbology and need an incredibly handsome tutor, do you?"

Both of the girls rolled their eyes, and George pretended to not see it.

"Actually, we've got some questions about your brother."

He paused for a moment, a small grim on his face. "Which one? I've only got five." He went back to the plant he was looking at, before curiously looking at the two girls. "Actually, why is it you're asking me the questions when Ginny's right here? She'd know just as well as I would."

"Except for the fact that our questions are about Fred."

He paused, before he moved back to his plant.

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should be asking him."

"Would if I could, you Weasley's seem to be hiding away from me."

"That sounds like a you problem."

"George," Ginny called again, not wanting to see a fight between Anne and her brother. He looked at her again, and after a moment he sighed, taking his gloves off.

"Fine, ask away."

"Does Fred still like Mina?"

He gave the girls both an odd look.

"Well, I sure hope so after all the talking in my ear he did last night about her." The girls looked confused so he continued. " _Mina's got the prettiest eyes I've ever seen, and her laugh... is like honey_..." his voice sqeaked as he crudely mimicked his brother, despite the similarity in their voices. "Why I just about thought he'd propose to her if he hadn't been so drunk."

"So... he's not dating Angelina?"

"What? No, where'd you come up with something like that?"

A shadow passed over Ginny's face as she connected the dots.

"Thanks so much George, we've gotta go."

"But-" Anne was pulled away before she could get another question in.

"I think I know why. What's going on. I'm pretty sure I know," Anne looked at her, waiting for her to go on. "When did they start acting weird?"

"Well," Anne thought," it was probably right around summer."

"Just before summer I got a letter from Mina. She didn't mean to send it to me, I'm sure. But it was addressed to Fred and talked about how much she liked him."

"Did you give it to him?"

"No, I shoved it in a book in my room. I assumed Mina hadn't meant to send it, so it wasn't my place to tell him. _But_ they were both in my room right over the beginning of the break. Maybe she told him, or he found the note," realization crossed her face and she started talking faster," which might explain the good mood he was in that morning. He had said he wanted to talk to her, so maybe he was going to tell her he liked her too."

"We're working with a lot of maybe's here."

Ginny ignored Anne and continued. "But then Angelina had been really focused on Fred that morning, so when Mina came down she asked to talk to her. They went outside for a bit and then Mina came in saying she had to go to her uncle's house and left. Now here's where I need help filling in the blanks. I don't know what they talked about."

"Can't help you there."

"Then when's the next time they interacted? The World Quidditch game?"

"Yes, I think."

"They were really weird then weren't they?"

"Well, Mina was convinced by then that Fred and Angelina were dating."

A weird look crossed Ginny's face. "Angelina told Fred that Mina and Nikolai were dating."

"Still, not following that one, but they aren't. I don't think they ever were. Wait, I think I'm seeing what you're putting down," Ginny started nodding emphatically before Anne could even speak," Mina probably thought Fred and Angelina were dating because Angelina told Mina at the party. Because Fred was going to ask her out? I'm starting to get confused again."

"Anne, stay focused. So, Fred was probably going to tell Mina how he felt, so Angelina frantically came up with a scheme. Tell Mina they're dating, come up with a fake boyfriend for Mina and it solves all her problems."

"So that's it? All their misery and moping over not being together is because of Angelina?"

Ginny nodded.

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Anne sat for a moment, trying to decide what to do with information, before she put her head in her hands.

"I've gotta tell Mina."

"I think you should. I can try to tell Fred at some point, but Angelina's all over him all the time. It might be hard."

"It's fine. If I tell Mina, they should be able to work it out from there. I'll have to tell her over Hogsmeade. Hopefully that gives them some time to sort this whole matter out."

* * *

 _ **Okay so things are slowly, so very slowly, coming together. But we've finally got characters who know wtf is going on. How do you think both of them are going to take it when we get to it?**_

 _ **I very much want them to happily be together, but I am living in the angst. We're gonna get a little more drama'y before they get there, but when they get there they should stay there. I don't think I have any plans to cause drama once they're actually together. Which is like, thank goodness, I'm so ready to get on board with fluff.**_


	48. Chapter 48

Clouds crowded above their heads as the students gathered at the front of the castle for their Hogsmeade trip.

Mina had been in a mood ever since _Fred_ , not that she would admit what he had done directly impacted her.

What he had done was cruel and unforgivable. Yet, she'd rather swallow her own tongue than admit he had any hold over her.

Nikolai hovered near her, and part of her wanted to snap at him.

She wasn't fragile.

She didn't need protecting.

But she knew what her friend was doing was with good intentions, no matter how irritating it was.

Anne rushed to make it. She wasn't sure she would, which would've been irritating to try to sweet y'all Filch into letting her through, but in the end she managed to squeeze by.

"Mina!"

She could see her friend, but if she heard her she hadn't gotten a response.

"Mina!" She ran up to them, only for Nikolai to swoop on her. She looked between him and her with furrowed brows. "What's going on?"

"She's not feeling good, I wouldn't do anything that's too much."

"But I've got some important information about Fred she know."

His face blanched.

"I think she knows it."

"What?"

He spared Mina a look, before pulling her away by the elbow.

"I don't know all of what went down, but apparently they told each other they liked each."

"Wait," Anne started smiling, "that's great!"

She cast a look to her friend in joy, and realized her tense expression. Her gaze drifted back to Nikolai and his solemn expression.

"The next morning he told her to leave him alone and went and sat next to Angelina."

Silence stretched over them with a chill. Anne was trying to fit this new piece of information into everything she already knew.

"But... that doesn't make sense? Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. But it's probably good to keep any mention of him at bay for now."

Anne pulled a face. "Mina won't break down at the mention of him, she isn't broken."

"I'm not worried about her. She might do some serious harm to him, and anything that'll just get her in trouble won't do anyone good."

She stared at him for a moment, before she sighed, defeated.

"Alright," she sighed again. "Yeah, no, of course. You're right. Of course, you're right. When she's better, let me know. I've got something she should know, but I'm not sure how it connects to that."

Nikolai put a hand on her arm and nodded. She ran off.

Apparently, she had more work to do.

* * *

Hogsmeade wasn't great.

Mina wouldn't lie.

She wasn't sure if her sour attitude turned it bad, or Nikolai obviously doing things with the purpose of cheering her up.

Which is how they both ended up in the kitchens with bowls of ice cream.

Just the sounds of their scraping bowls was their company, as they silently sat together.

"Thanks, for trying to cheer me up today. I've been nothing but upset and grumpy."

"No problem," he stared at his bowl for a moment, before glancing up at her. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat, anything for a friend."

They say in silence longer.

"It just sucks," Mina said, and it occurred to Nikolai that he hadn't seen her take a bite of her ice cream, that instead she had just been moving her spoon around. He placed a hand on hers.

"I know."

As he squeezed his hand he meant it. His breakup had been rough, but he knew the feelings she had. He had felt them. All she needed to do was have a safe space to ride them out, and eventually they wouldn't rule over her. Until then, it would suck.

Fred had been looking to find a late night snack. Anything with a snap so he could work out some of his aggression.

But what he found at the kitchen made his stomach turn.

It felt like someone was doing something unholy in his church.

The kitchens were his.

His.

It felt like the ultimate betrayal.

 ** _Hey guys, currently writing this at the beach, so it's prob going to go up a little later today, as I don't think I can hit my normal update in an hour, as I'm not home and am not sure if I can publish chapters from mobile?_**

 ** _But this'll go up when I get home, so nothings changed w/ update schedule other than the fact I was dumb and didn't prewrite this chapter out._**

 ** _sorry its short ill try to make up for it next week._**


	49. Chapter 49

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young witch with the opportunity of a ball, should be in want of a date.

Or that's what Mina was told.

Instead she just sneered as she heard the rumors flying around about the possibility over a ball. It's the last thing she wanted to think about at the moment. It just felt like a kick to the shin, everyone being filled with the prospect of being romantically swept off their feet when she had none. When she had just recently had her own hopes and dreams pulled out so suddenly from her.

No.

She hoped that's just what they were. Rumors.

But when they were called for an assembly in the middle of the week, it did nothing to quell the unease in her stomach.

Emotions were high as they all tried to form their way into the small entry of the great hall. Girls squealed and guys groaned. With the other two schools it felt as if she couldn't breath, they were so packed. Nikolai tried elbowing his way through the crowd next to her, but his annoyed noises made their way to her ears over the hum of the crowd. She couldn't help but snort. She had since stopped apologizing to people as she bumped into them, as it was an inevitability. Yet, when a group of girls had pushed her particularly hard, she couldn't help the words she sent to the stranger she stumbled into. Mina's eyes drifted from the red and gold color on their chest to their face, and her expression hardened.

Her jaw clenched as she wanted to rescind the apology immediately.

"Mina."

"Fred."

It was clear neither party was happy at being brought into proximity of the other. Nikolai looked over at the two and if he could he would've dragged Mina down the nearest hall with him. If Fred's eyes were ablaze, then Mina's were an oil fire. He could feel the warmth of her fury roll over him in waves, and he shifted his gaze the the direction of her gaze in wonder if he felt the anger she felt. Fred gave no sign of it. His eyes, however, did roll over Nikolai, before snapping back to Mina.

"What a surprise to see the both of you together," he said dryly.

"What a surprise to see you caring."

"I wasn't."

"Then why say something?" Mina retorted.

Nikolai was unsure if the crowd fed off of her, or her the crowd. He was beginning to sweat and feared for a moment that they might never make it to the hall. Being stuck in this straight bullshit would be his personal hell, and he began to wonder what wrongs he had committed to be stuck in it.

Fred seemed at a loss of words for a moment, but it was clear he was still angry, and anger did little to stop people from saying stupid things.

"Did you choose to bump into me, or are you just obsessed with me or something?"

Mina flinched.

That had been low. Knowing she had liked him, brushing it off, and then making fun of her for it? What misfortune had she befallen in order to land this strewn so casually about in conversation. Why was her luck so bad to have fallen for a guy who clearly cared so little for her feelings? She willed her emotions to bury down.

"No, just shit luck that landed me next to you."

His face squished together in anger, and his mouth opened ugly to retort. Mina found an opening in the crowd and took advantage of it. She pushed through, making sure to grab ahold of Nikolai, who passed by him with a simple 'nice chat'.

"Well that was fun, wasn't it?"

'Far from it," Mina rolled her eyes as she headed towards the Ravenclaw table. He tailed behind, planning to sit on the slytherin side closest to hers.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he tried nicely.

"No."

"Okay."

"Great."

"Great."

He twiddled with his thumbs. Silence spilled out over them for a minute before Mina sighed.

"Spit it out."

"Well," he drawled, as if it pained him to say the words, "only that I think you should talk about it."

"And I will," she snapped. When he recoiled, she took a breath and softened her words. "I will. But now is not that time."

Instead she would bury her feelings deep down. So deep down one might worry about them being dead, but one day they would be surprised to find that they were just hibernating, and that they would bloom into beautiful flowers. It would only take time.

* * *

Mina was not happy.

Needless to say, the whispers had been right. They were going to have a ball.

She wanted to wallow, and just skip past the whole thing until it was over so school could go back to normal.

As she made her way through the halls quickly, ignoring thee excited hum of the crowd, she couldn't go a step without hearing mention of it. Mina had been so lost in her thoughts, that when a hand had grabbed her arm she jumped back with a small shriek.

"Niko!"

Nikolai smiled at her as he mumbled a small apology at her fright.

"So a ball, huh?"

"Yep," she drew the one word response into multiple seconds of space.

"Any idea who you're going with?"

She gave him a pointed look. "Give me a moment to look at my long list of suitors," she made an overdramatic look to the empty hall in front of her. "Options, options. I was just thinking about going with you guys as friends. Just showing up by myself."

"Well, good."

"Good?" she asked, a slight bump of humor to her voice.

"Yeah. I was planning on going by myself as well. So maybe we could go alone together?"

Mina wasn't sure what to say.

"Doesn't that kind of defeat the point?"

Nikolai gave a loud laugh that filled the hall. "Kind of. Maybe. To be honest I was worried I was going to get to you too late."

"You thought in the twenty minutes walk from the hall, I was going to be run down by people asking me to the ball?"

"What can I say, you're a catch," he paused for a moment. "That and I can't be expected to go to the ball with someone who isn't nearly as pretty as me. I plan to power couple it, and that isn't going to happen with anyone at this school." He sent her a look, which caused her to snort. "But really, I just don't want to go through the stress of finding the other gay kids here and getting to know them, hoping they haven't been asked. They all already know each other, maybe after the ball. I'm not about to get desperate just because I don't want to show up alone."

"Well, I feel honored that you would ask me."

"Oh you should. Were it not for Alicia, I would've asked Ben. He's got quite nice eyelashes."

"Not Anne?"

He sent her a look.

"I don't think we're either of each others types."

"Fair enough," she shrugged, but it was hard for her to hide her smile.

Maybe the ball wouldn't be nearly as bad as she thought.

* * *

 ** _I've had so much work to do this week, you guys. I've spent the better part of today writing stuff for school, and the last couple of days just reading textbooks. I still have two essays and an assignment to do. I might scream or cry (or both, both is good)._**

 ** _This chapter was fun to write though. Slowly, we're getting towards the ball which is so exciting. The idea of a ball scene (and ultimately the feelings that'll come out with it) is what ultimately made me want to write this story._**

 ** _Wish me luck that I get everything done in time, and I'll see you guys with another update next weekend. Also, this is going up Saturday night, early sunday morning because I'm worried I'll be too caught up with assignments tomorrow and might forget to post. Updates will be back to Sunday around midday PST next week._**


	50. Chapter 50

It was hard to not fidget with her fingers, or the hem of her skirt, as they were all told to gather for Professor McGonagall. Why did the presence of a ball mean they had to have so many assemblies? Her stomach tingled as she saw a tall figure with red hair, in what she assumed was pure anger, and she watched as the Gryffindors huddled by themselves. And if they were to have them, why not by individual houses? She could sense her anxiety slowly rising as she felt a cool glare sent her way, but she swallowed it down, instead choosing to turn to Anne.

"What do you think is happening?"

She shrugged. "Beats me, but it gets us out of class doesn't it?"

"I guess," Mina said, as she watched in wonder.

Wonder until McGonagall had started talking, and dragged Ron Weasley to demonstrate how to dance with her. Why couldn't they just dance how they wanted to? She understood upholding traditions, but she doubted everyone was willing to learn. When she called for the boys and girls to pair up, it was evident that's how everyone felt. They all sat rooted to their seats, and MIna's eyes gazed rapidly for a familiar face. If she could just find Nikolai she would be good. But, as her gaze grew more frantic, she realized that only Hogwarts students were in the room. Her mind worked rapidly, looking for anyone on her Quidditch team she could team up with, someone who would help her turn this whole thing into a joke. But as her eyes touched Damien's, a voice picked up.

"Gentleman, the ladies will not bite you. Pair up now." Everyone sat still, although some hesitantly were starting to get up. "Really, now. C'mon." Her eyes ran over their faces until they hit Mina's, and all Mina could think was: No. "Miss Donnelly, will you please?" Having been called out, hesitantly she stood and made her way over to the professor. She gazed the room again. "And... Mr. Weasley." George stood to stand, and she was grateful for him, even though she knew it was probably something he was doing for his brother rather than her. But, McGonagall was not having it. "No, no. Not you." Her voice traveled, echoing inside Mina's mind. She pointed at Fred. "The other Mr. Weasley."

 _No._

Her mind was ringing as he made his way to her. Time seemed to slow down, and she wasn't sure if he was purposefully walking so slowly, or if it was all in her head. It's not like the prolonged walk would save them from this torture, yet Mina had a feeling it was a mix of both. As he finally made his way to her, Mina couldn't help but feeling small next to him. She had stood by him before, but the cold shoulder he wa giving her added another five feet to his height. She wanted to shrink in on herself, and she could feel her shoulders start to curl in, but she stopped herself. What was she saying about herself? She wouldn't give him something else to pick on her for. She stood to her full height as he came to a stop by her, and she raised her head high. Her emotions were a crown, and she would wear them proudly.

Their eyes bore into each others with several emotions, but all Mina could feel was the anger in her stomach already working its way up her chest.

They stood there for what felt like forever, when McGonagall clapped her hands. "Now everyone pair up, or I will do that for you." A wave of students filled in around them, as she started the music, but Mina's eyes snapped back to Fred's. Her jaw tightened when she saw he was still looking at her. McGonagall came over by them again, pushing them closer together, insisting they start dancing.

Mina stared at him, not wanting to be the first one to break. And she wasn't. Reluctantly, he put out his hand.

Reluctantly, she took it.

His other hand went around her waist, and hers on his shoulder and they were off. Silently, and with considerable distance between the two of them, they danced stiffly, going through the motions. The air between the two of them was cold, and stifling. Mina's stomach fluttered. She chalked it up to anger. There was a small voice in her head telling her that it's not what it was, but she told that voice to shut up. It had to be anger.

"How far away is the ball?" His voice, somewhat exasperated, startled her. She hadn't expected him to talk to her at all, as she hadn't had any intentions herself, but now it would be hard to avoid it.

"I don't know." She shook her head. "Not close enough."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're excited for it?" The surprise in his voice was evident, and it was heavy with meaning she didn't want to bother to figure out.

She snorted. "Excited to get it over with."

"Oh," he thought for a moment, before awkwardly continuing, "I would've thought you would be excited for it." Mina wasn't sure if that was supposed to be an insult or not, so she let it slide. "Do you have a date, yet?"

She felt herself tense for a moment, her guard coming back up. Of course he would just be asking to hurt her feelings somehow. Considering her answer, she finally answered. "I'm planning on going by myself." It was technically the truth, she thought to herself, thinking of how Nikolai had asked her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll just hang out with friends. I'm not going to sit around hoping someone will ask me. I'm just tired with this whole ball." There. Now she had fully covered her bases. Nikolai and her were just friends, she really didn't want to sit around for anyone to ask her, and she was in fact, truly tired of everything to do with the ball and the Tournament.

Fred, however, had taken a different meaning from the message. Not that he would've told her, but he thought she might've been hinting to him to ask her. He mulled it over in his head, wondering what it all meant.

* * *

 ** _Ya'll I just finished a seven page paper and am mentally exhausted, so please don't expect anything spectacular this week. I've got to write a three page paper after this, and almost decided to skip this weeks update, but I know that's a slippery slope to abandoned fics, so I'll push through. Take this for what it is, because I am so very tired._**


	51. Chapter 51

Anne was beyond frustrated.

Just when she thought she had all the clues to what in Merlin's name was going on, another thing unfolded and undid all of what she knew. Mentally she went over the timeline her and ginny had established.

There was plenty that she wasn't sure on, but the most confusing thing was over what happened between the party and the next morning. According to George, Fred had been gushing about Mina. Which stood up to what Mina said. But what made him shift so harshly when the morning came?

Mina was convinced that it was just proof that he was cruel. That he had no care for what other people felt, that she had just became a joke to him. While Anne didn't push it with her, she wasn't sure if she agreed with what Mina felt so strongly about. She felt that there was still more to the issue.

And if not, then she guessed she would have to kick Fred's ass.

Walking around, it seemed once again as if all the Weasley's were hiding from her. _Everyone else at this school has a hard time getting away from them_ , She thought to herself with a snort. It took her half an hour before she found Ginny walking with books in her hand. She made a beeline for her.

"Ginny!" She scared the girl, but continued walking to her in a hurry. "Ginny, my dear, dear friend. What are you up to right now?" She opened her mouth, but Anne continued on. "Nothing? Great. Looking for your brother. Tall. Dumb. Aggravating me, because he continues to make Mina's life difficult, which makes mine difficult. Where can I find him?"

"I'm not sure I know where Fred is."

"Even if you're not sure, something is better than nothing."

Anne could see the gears turning in her head, before she eventually nodded and started walking. Ginny lead her down through the twists and turns of the halls towards the potions classroom. It was hard to walk through the crowd as a class had just been getting out, which proved to be difficult in the beginning until she saw the familiar towering figure.

Fred's eyes met hers, and he tried veering off to hide in the crowd, but it's hard to hide in the crowd when a person has red hair. Anne would know. She made a beeline for him, and when he was just a few feet away, he tried to turn away again.

"Oh no you don't, Weasley." She latched her hand on his arm. "We need to talk." He stopped, and with an air of annoyance waited for her to continue on. "What is going on with you and Mina?"

His expression soured.

"Why don't you ask her," he said, voice clipped. Anne clenched her jaw.

"Well, I'm not asking her. I'm asking you, aren't I?" She crossed her arms and waited. They stood there until they were left alone in the hallway. They probably would've stood there longer had Ginny not pipped up from behind her.

"Fred." She didn't say more than that, but the pleading tone in her voice showed him what she wanted. His eyes lightened up looking at Ginny, before they snapped back to Anne harshly.

"What do you want to know?"

"What don't I want to know?" Anne said, more to herself than him. She could feel herself getting worked up, and just as she opened her mouth Ginny cut her off.

"What happened the day of the first task leading up to the day after?" Her eyes were trained on her brother, and Anne couldn't help but think she was a genius. Any conversation Anne would'v tried to have with him would've lead to her yelling at him. Ginny deciding to let him tell what he knew and then adding that all to what they knew? Anne could've kissed her.

He shrugged, and they stood watching him for a moment longer before he sighed and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"The day of the task I went to go watch it. I went to a party. I woke up and got breakfast."

Anne's face blanched. Ginny was a genius unless her brother was a stubborn ass. She was going to fight him, that was it. Ginny put a hand out to stop her from tumbling her brother, as Fred calmly watched. This only aggravated Anne more. Mina was right. He was nothing but a bumbling ass, and she would be first in line to... to... well, she didn't now yet, but she would know once she got her hands on him. She was held back even more, and felt Ginny look to her brother, this time begging.

"Fred, I'm serious. Just go through your day."

It was tense for a moment, before he sighed. He uncrossed his arms and ran his hand through his hair.

"I can't remember it too well. It's all kind of muggy."

"That's fine, just the best you can," Ginny said, once again before Anne could even open her mouth.

He took a moment, before answering. "The day of the first task I went down to the Great Hall. I caught Mina before heading in there and asked if she would sit next to me during it. She said _yes_." His voice bit at them at the last word. "I went to the task, and Mina never showed up. When I left I saw her making out with Nikolai over by the champions tent. I left, and went back to my dorm, because I was upset. Then the party started."

"And?" Anne pressed when he had been silent for a minute.

"And my memory starts getting fuzzy here. I know Angelina was hanging out with me, but I was playing a several drinking games. The next thing I remember is waking up the next morning with a raging headache."

They were silent for a moment again.

"Merlin," Anne whispered, her fury evident in her voice. With each new word she spoke, a harsh emphasis was placed on it as she wasn't trying to lose her cool entirely. "I can not believe, that all of this is an issue because you got so drunk that you couldn't remember the night before. I can not believe this." She had moved to walking as she started to angrily rant, moving her arms about as she spoke. "Fred Weasley, you are something else entirely. You created this whole problem, because you got _so_ drunk, that you couldn't remember what you and Mina talked about the night before." Anne started rolling her sleeves up.

"Wait, we talked?"

"Alright, square up Weasley. Come get what you deserve." Anne held up her fists, and Ginny, again, held her back. She looked back to her brother.

"You seriously don't remember?"

He shook his head, his attitude now gone, instead replaced with curiousity.

"Fred. You and Mina talked and told each other that you liked one another." His eyes widened, as he was trying to piece it into what he knew. He opened his mouth to ask questions, but Ginny answered before he could ask. "Sit down. We'll try to fill in the blanks."

* * *

 _ **Writing this day of, sorry, life's been hectic. Once again, it is what it is, because I have to hurry to finish up a bunch of assignments. Middle of the semester sure is rough, isn't it?**_


	52. Chapter 52

Ginny gently lead Fred to a bench for him to sit down. Anne lent against the wall watching him closely, looking for any little move to give her a sign that he had been lying, that he had actually been conning Mina. But no, she wasn't able to find one. For now.

"We're gonna run through the things we know. Jump in if it sounds different from what you know."

Fred sat patiently, his face looking at both of them expectantly. Anne waited for Ginny to start, but when she didn't, she let out a sigh.

"You liked Mina last year, yes?" His face turned and she held up a hand. "Don't even try to hide it. Everyone except for you and Mina knew it." Now it was his turn to sigh. He put a hand over his face and nodded. "Okay, that's a start. Our information picks up around summer."

"Christmas first, then a jump to summer," Ginny chimed in. "Mina accidentally wrote me a letter, and I hid it in my room. Did you happen to read it?"

It was silent again before he nodded once more. "I... I didn't read it until summer though."

"When?" Anne asked sharply.

"When everyone was over at our house. Mina and I had sat up talking late, and then we woke up and Hermione and Ginny were gone, so we were talking some more. She left the room, and as I was leaving I caught a piece of paper about to fall out a book on Ginny's table."

"So you read it and?"

He fiddled with his hands for a moment. "I... I felt hopeful. I was planning to ask her out when she came downstairs."

"But?" Anne prodded again.

"But," Ginny looked at her brother kinder, "Angelina pulled her away before he could."

"Yeah, she looked almost frantic. I'm not sure why though. I was talking to George about how I was going to finally do it, so maybe she pulled her aside for me to ask her and I just missed the signal?"

Anne and Ginny shared a look.

"We're not sure what they talked about, but we've got an idea. Keep going."

"They were in the yard for five minutes, maybe? I don't really know. What I do know is that when they came back in Mina seemed kind of upset. I tried pulling her aside to ask what was wrong, but she said she had forgotten she told her uncle she would be at his place that morning. Then she was gone. I didn't see her until the World Cup."

"Okay, so this is when you guys started acting weird. Run me through why."

"I... don't know why." He crossed his arms, and Anne let out another annoyed sigh.

"Then we're going to say what we think happened." She gave Ginny a glance before continuing. "By the time of the World Cup, Mina was convinced you and Angelina were dating."

Fred pulled a face, and opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny's voice quietly cut him off.

"And... you thought Mina was dating Nikolai."

His mouth quickly closed.

"Do you want to tell us how you found about about them 'dating'." Anne did air quotes as she spoke.

"Angelina told me the first time we ran into you guys there. She said that Mina and Nikolai had been dating for a while."

The girls shared a look. "Ginny don't say anything. We'll clear this up in a minute. Let's keep going with the timeline first." Anne nodded to Fred, letting him know to keep talking.

"I don't know. Things were weird between us all through the World Cup. Things were even weirder when we found out her _boyfriend_ would be here for the year."

"And? Keep going."

"And... and I made a last effort during the first trial. I asked her to sit near me, and she never showed up. When I was leaving she was with Nikolai. Obviously I was upset she blew me off. I went and drank a bunch at the party that night and blanked out. You guys know that."

"Here's where we jump in and fill in the blanks." Fred looked to Anne expectantly. "Mina and Nikolai aren't dating. Never have been, and never will." Anne watched his face as he mulled over the thoughts. "And... you and Angelina aren't dating?"

"No. Never. She's a good friend, nothing more."

"If she was that good of a friend why would she lie and tell you that they were dating?" Anne bit back, slowly becoming less of a fan of Angelina.

"I... don't know." He put his head in his hands.

"So all of this was because you were jealous over a couple that wasn't actually dating?" Fred sat still, his head still in his hands. Anne waited before she prodded again. "I need to hear you say it, Weasley."

He sat there, his head in his hands for a few more minutes, before he sighed and sat up. "I was jealous because I thought Mina and Nikolai were dating."

"Mhm. And then you got so drunk at a party that you can't even remember confessing to each other that you liked each other. Then the next day you basically blew her off."

Fred groaned and his head went right back to his hands.

"She must hate me."

"Oh yeah, she does." Anne was not one for being subtle and a harsh look from Ginny told her as much. "And who told you they were dating again?"

"Angelina. Angelina did." He was shaking his head in his hands. "I don't know why she would lie to me like that. Maybe she had just heard wrong?" He peaked at Anne hopeful. "Maybe it was just a rumor that she had gotten wrong."

"You are so dumb." The words slipped out of her mouth before she knew, and another harsh look from Ginny told her to be more careful. "I don't want to say what I'm thinking until I know for sure, but I don't think she was just innocently sharing a rumor regarding your love interest."

Fred sat up and ran a hand over his face again.

"I fucked up."

"Yes you did."

"You can just ask Mina to the dance? That'll fix things, because then you guys can talk," Ginny said hopeful. Anne sadly thought that she was the only hopeful one in the room.

"I've already asked Angelina to go," he leaned back, his head against the wall now," Mina and I were barely talking we were so angry, what else was I going to do?"

Anne bit her tongue.

"Oh," Ginny's voice was small as she let out the breath.

"Yeah."

"Then I guess you'll go to the ball with her."

"Is there anything we can do?" Fred asked, his voice twinging hopefully.

"Not that I can think of. She's really angry at you. Like pissed off." His figure sank into himself.

"But," Ginny chimed in," we can figure something out. Give her some time to cool off, then run into her at the ball. We can figure it out together, right Anne?"

Anne sat there for a minute, trying to work through the anger she had previously felt towards Fred. "I will input any ideas I have, but if it's something not good for Mina I get to veto it immediately. You've had so many chances now, I'm not going to let you ruin another one and mess with her head even more than you already have."

"Alright, let's get to work."

* * *

 ** _Heres the part where, once again, I apologize for the chapter and ask you to bear with me. It's just that point in the semester where things are constantly kicking off so like... it'll be this way for a while. I've gotta read a book and type a four page paper, and then do about three essays and two presentations on top of that so uhhh... this is definitely on the back burner for now. But again, won't miss an update day because that's a slippery slope to abandoned_** ** _fics._**


	53. Chapter 53

Fred's mind swirled as he thought of what he was told just days before.

He felt embarrassed that he had gotten so worked up over nothing, although it certainly seemed real to him. And when the embarrassment faded the shame set in quick. It gnawed at him, and wouldn't leave his thoughts alone.

What he put Mina through.

He was completely stupid. Well, maybe not stupid, but maybe misguided? Could a person even be misguided if they came to the judgement on their own? Although, Fred stopped to think, had he really come to the thought that Mina was dating someone on his own?

He thought back to Angelina, and stayed there for a moment, doubt slowly circling his perception of her.

She had been the one to tell him. But it couldn't be that simple. Angelina was a good friend; always was. She was loyal, and wouldn't break his heart so easily if it really was true that everyone could tell that he liked Mina.

It couldn't be the answer.

Then maybe Angelina had been misguided as well?

Two people can lead each other off the trail, surely that was it. Maybe she had heard gossip and had repeated it to him to try to spare him the heartache of it all? Fred shook his head. This whole matter was entirely too confusing for him.

And even then, he had gone and messed it up with Mina on his own by drinking too much, so he couldn't entirely place the blame on the rumor Angelina had told him. He had lashed out at her, set Mina off to believe that he actually thought so little when he thought the world of her. He had hurt her dearly, and for that, he was going to have to figure something out.

He racked his brain as he sat in the library, hunched over the desk with a slight mad look in his eye. He sat, quill posed to write, before slumping back in the chair.

Who was he kidding.

There was a reason he wasn't in Ravenclaw. It would take him a massive amount of time to figure a clear solution out. He wondered to himself, what good was bravery, if it couldn't fix the problems that it had created.

* * *

Mina laughed loudly as Anne twirled around in an example of how she would dance at the Yule Ball.

The air was filled with excitement as girls chattered amongst themselves at the dress they would pick out. The guys hung about awkwardly, not too thrilled other than the fact that a Hogsmeade trip was a Hogsmeade trip.

"Okay. Mina focus. We need a game plan. What type of dress do you want for the ball, so I can fight the other girls off of it?"

She let out a small giggle. "I don't care really, as long as it's not blue. I'd hate to be the Ravenclaw showing up in blue. Like, _how original._ "

"Just because we're in Ravenclaw doesn't mean we're excluded from wearing our house color. I for wear wear it all the time."

"Because you were the uniform. Which has Ravenclaw blue on it," Mina replied lamely, completely unamused.

"Oh, yeah." Anne took a moment to pause, as if the thought required heavy concentration, before bursting back into her train of thought. "Well, I have no idea what I want either. I figure I'll know it when I see it. I just cant do red... the hair." She gestured nonchalantly to her head. "In fact, pink is probably off the table as well."

"Anne, you could show up wearing anything and you'd still look great."

"Mina! You little flirt, you!" Anne playfully nudged her friend as they began to line up. "If neither of us had dates already, that alone would make me drag you to the ball with me."

Mina's face pinched in confusion. "I didn't know you had a date! Anne, you're always so involved in my love life, you can't just keep all the juicy details to yourself. Spill."

For the first time Mina had ever known Anne, she looked bashful, and maybe slightly afraid, as she rubbed her neck. "You'll know when we get to the ball, I just... don't want you to judge me..."

Her face became even more confused. "You know I'd never judge you. You could take Snape to the ball and I'd still support you." She paused, actually thinking about what came out of her mouth. "Wait, no. That's probably the one thing I'd judge you for."

"Rightfully so." Anne laughed.

Mina was about to probe once more, but they were given the all clear to head into town, and she could barely hear herself over how loud it had suddenly gotten. Anne was quick to pull her along a path she didn't know, but she had faith in her friend.

Sure enough, they ended up at a small dress shop, that had only a few other girls from Hogwarts in it.

"I know it looks small, but it's a gem and it's not crowded. You also can't beat their prices." She added the last bit as an afterthought, and moved to walk inside. The bell chimed as she opened the door and she was greeted by the person behind the counter.

Mina followed her in.

* * *

 ** _Slightly less overwhelmed this week, as I'm actually writing this the day before the update goes up, but man, this semesters really fighting me. It's hard to stay on top of everything, and not just leave it all for last minute. I've got one major thing to do left for this weekend, but boy did I save the biggest thing for last because it's a pretty beefy paper (but it's also got a later due date this week, so it's less important for me to finish immediately... famous last words as I quickly get overwhelmed by it, I know, I know)._**

 ** _Also, I started listening to Hadestown on my_** ** _commute, anyone else a fan of it? It's amazing (and I've seen bits of the stage production and set and lighting and everything is so lovely)._**


	54. Chapter 54

When Mina walked inside, she was surprised at the quaint little shop she saw.

The room was warm, and felt as if she walked into someones living room. There was a fire going in the corner, and there were chairs sporadically placed around with rugs and tables in cozy little nooks. She eyed the shelves of bookshelves on one side of the shop, over the racks of varying clothes and raised an eyebrow at her friends retreating form. It felt as if she had stumbled upon two different stores who had ended up in the same place by accident. It felt a little chaotic, but she supposed that's what made it feel home-y in a way.

That and the fact almost no one else was in here, other than a few other customers and the bored looking cashier, lazily flipping through the pages of a magazine.

"Woah." It slipped out of her mouth before she realized it, and Anne let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I stumbled upon this place over break and lost my mind. Isn't it perfect?"

"Yeah," Mina breathed,"but... can I ask...?" She paused, unsure of how to word her question. Anne seemed to be two steps ahead of her.

"A set of twins run this place. They went to Hogwarts too." She pointed to the girl behind the counter. "That's their younger sister."

"And they decided it was cheaper to set up two different shops in one place?"

"That, and they figured it makes them stand out. We'll have to come back when they're here another time, they're pretty fun." Mina nodded her head, already gazing longingly at the comfy chair closest to her, wanting nothing more than to curl into it. She could pretend for Anne all she wanted, but she really felt less and less excited about the yule ball the closer it edged to it. She was this close to sitting back and letting Anne pick something for her, and it was sheer fear of what she would pick out that stopped her from doing that.

"Alright," Anne rubbed her hands excitedly, "let's get down to business."

Anne went about in a fervor, looking at different dresses, and Mina could see the thought process that went into each dress before she moved onto the next. Mina moved with far less energy, barely looking at whatever was in front of her as she moved to the next. They were silent as they moved, and every once in a while Anne would hold a dress up to herself, either waiting for Mina to shake her head, or deciding she didn't like it before she got an answer. They moved methodically down the rack, and Mina could sense Anne's anxiety over whatever she wanted to ask, before she even heard her open her mouth. Still, she waited for her to ask instead of prodding.

"So," Anne finally drawled out. "You're really just going with Nikolai? Don't you want to actually go with someone you like?"

Mina squinted her eyebrows. She thought Anne of all people was on her side, why was she trying to get hre to change her mind.

"Technically, I'm going by myself. So is Nikolai. We're just going by ourselves together."

"That's not a thing." Anne interjected, but Mina continued.

"I think I'm just about over boys. I'm this close to swearing them all off for the rest of my Hogwarts career."

Silence hung over them before Anne hesitantly asked, "Is this because of..."

Mina didn't need the rest of the question to know what she wanted to say. "You can say his name, it's fine. I'm not going to lose my mind. I don't care what Fred does, I hope he and Angelina are very happy together. In fact, I hope they're so happy, that I never hear from them again because everyone just regards them as that one grossly sweet couple. That's how much I hope they're good together."

Anne pulled a face, and Mina thought she was about to sneeze. After another moment her friend picked back up.

"Still, the rest of Hogwarts is a long time to give up boys, isn't it?"

Mina let out an unamused laugh. "Hardly. I'm just done. I don't want anymore of the drama, or anything that comes with them. At this point, I'm better off spending that energy on my studies and becoming a healer."

It seemed like Anne wanted to say more, but she held off. Mina focused her attention on actually finding something, as she knew she couldn't leave the shop without anything. Anne let out a triumphant sound a moment later, and pulled a dress off the rack.

"This is it, this is the one for me."

It was a long black dress; the cut in the front was part sweetheart neckline, part deep V. The arms were a sheer fabric, with embroidery work slowly crawling up the arms. A slit went up to the thigh, and the same sheer embroidered fabric appeared over the lower portion of the floor length dress. Embroidered roses were scattered across it, and as she clutched it to her chest, the glint in her eyes told Anne she would look good in it through sheer attitude alone.

"It is pretty."

"I'm gonna go try it on, you find something or I'll find something for you." At those words, Mina worked with a renewed fervor, scanning for a dress to wear. She had just about settled on something that would pass when Anne came out.

"Darling," she breathed exaggeratedly," how do I look?" She had pulled her hair down, and it cascaded down in rough circular ringlets from her bun. Knots and no makeup, Anne still managed to pull it off. "Yes, or yes?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Okay, Miss Mina. Show the class what you've found."

She was just about to sorrily lift up the purple atrocity she found, when another dress caught her eye.

Ignoring Annes call, she put her dress back and gravitated towards this one. It was a floor length, A length gown. A dark navy, with a sweetheart neckline, and no sleeves other that the soft off the shoulder tulle draped carefully. Over the blue was a dainty, sheer material, with silver glitter sparingly placed over it. It glittered as she pulled it off the rack. Anne came over to see what she had found, and let out an almost breathless response.

"Oh, Mina it's gorgeous. Go try it on. Now, go try it on now." She was pushed into the dress room.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and found herself starting to tear up sentimentally for a reason she almost couldn't place. It looked like stars in the sky. She bit back her tears at the wave of nostalgia that came over her as she thought of her and Fred's conversation over last break. And despite all her arguing and denying, she missed him. She really truly did. No matter how much she tried to distance herself from him physically or mentally, he was always right there in her mind. Her eye's continued to tear up, and she thought about how pitiful she looked. Here she was in possibly the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen, and she was crying over a boy. but still, her reflection twinkled at her twofold; once with the dress, and twice with the tears slowly beading up in her eyes. Anne called out to her, and she quickly wiped them away, calling for minute, hoping that her eyes wouldn't be red.

She emerged from the dressing room, both with a new look and a new take, and Anne let out a gasp.

"Oh Mina!"

She smiled back, a sad sort of smile that Anne didn't seem to notice.

"Anne," Mina said softly, "I think I'm going to be one of those Ravenclaws."

* * *

 ** _Mina: No, I'm so extremely happy for both of them_**

 ** _Anne:..._**

 ** _Mina: I'm so happy I hope I never hear from them again that's how happy I am_**

 ** _Anne:... *side eyes*_**

 ** _Have you guys finished classes yet? I've got like three more weeks and then I can divert more attention to this than I have been in the last couple of weeks. Even then, I think a bulk of the stress is over (famous last words), and I can use the calm to knock out the rest of the major assignments I have, so that when my professors throw like two papers each at me I won't be so overwhelming. How it's going better for all of you than it is for me so far._**

 ** _Also this was pretty fun to write, I knew I wanted to throw a tie in, and slowly bring her back around even through all her denying, but I wasn't sure how i was going to do it until I was writing it._**


	55. Chapter 55

Mina was quiet on the way back to the castle. How couldn't she be? Her whole world had been upturned in one afternoon.

She wasn't sure how she should be feeling.

On the one hand, she had liked Fred before, so it shouldn't be an issue. On the other hand, she had way more information, and it most definitely was an issue.

He was dating Angelina. He had taken advantage of her feelings for him, and twisted a figurative knife into her heart. Then, he had the gall to be upset around her like she was the problem.

Maybe she was.

She knew it was bad for her. That was why she had told herself she couldn't like him anymore to begin with. Yet, her heart didn't want to listen to her. It boycotted all sense of reason, refusing to see logic. He was bad for her, and they only had obstacles against them. The cons massively outweighed the pros. But still, her heart still twinged at the thought of not being with being wit him.

It hurt her to like him. It hurt her to like him knowing they couldn't be together. Knowing that he thought of her as nothing. She was torn.

She was at war with herself, and there was no clear winner. There would be only one victim in this, and it would be her heart.

So then why was she still so enamored by him?

Her brows furrowed, and she was startled when Anne called her name. She looked up at her friend to see a worried expression on her face.

"Are you feeling okay? I called your name several times."

Mina forced a smile on her face. "Yeah, I think I'm just tired. I'm going to take a walk around the castle and then take a nap."

Anne didn't look convinced but didn't push the issue. She held out her hand. "Alright. Give me your bag and I'll dump it in our room. I'll catch you at dinner, feel better, alright?"

Mina held an even tighter smile as she hummed. "Mhm."

As Anne walked away, she could see her cast a look back her way concerned, before she disappeared. Mina sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She bit her lip, and then tucked herself into the corner of a wall and crumpled.

She had no plans to take a walk. Her hands moved to her face as she could feel tears creeping up on her, and they wouldn't listen to her cry for them to go away.

They wouldn't listen, and she could only hope no one would see her as felt her emotions crash down on her all at once. She had never felt so conflicted in her life.

* * *

Hogsmeade had been nice. Well, nice enough.

Fred had been less concerned with the trip itself, and more with his problem at hand. He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

How was he going to make up to Mina for being the worst person? He had no idea how, but the yule ball was creeping up on him faster and faster, with no regard for how lost he felt. He wasn't confident he could just wing an apology. If she would even hear him out.

It hung on him, on wouldn't let him forget.

If he forgot, then his chances with Mina would be gone forever.

The weight was immense, and not even the pranks his brother had planned would draw his mind out from this problem.

They were late returning from Hogsmeade, and he could feel the irritation of his friends, mores Angelina, at how mentally unavailable he had been the entire trip. He couldn't help it though, there was nothing that would hold his focus - hold a conversation with Mina alone. And he was nowhere near ready for that.

Or maybe that was just the nerves.

Whatever he said, it would change things forever between them. He couldn't imagine going back to the way they were before they were friends. Angry, and mean. Never having a kind word to say to each other.

It hurt him that he might never hear her laugh twinkle again. Her infectious smile. Her kind words, and what he had once hoped to be a loving gaze.

But if he didn't say anything they would just quietly regress into the point they used to be at. If he did, she could laugh in his face and they could regress to where they used to be. His odds were slim, and he didn't like them.

Even with what he had learned from Anne and Ginny, his confidence was shot.

He looked up as they were walking up, and he wasn't sure if the bad lighting was causing him to see things or not. He could've sworn he had seen the retreating form of Mina into the castle. He blinked, and looked again, but she was gone.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

He had been thinking about her too much, and was finally seeing things. The stress of what he was going to say was taking a toll on him. Part of him wanted to go after her, but the other part of him held him back. He wasn't stupid. He was seeing things.

And he wouldn't go chasing after ghosts.

* * *

 ** _Finals are coming up in about a week and it is so close I can taste it, I've still got to jump the hurdle of several papers and then majorly cramming, but other than that, we'll be home free for a bit. Which is good because I can rewatch the movies for a bit of refresher and expand my current plot a little bit more for after the yule ball. Also, I'll actually have time again to write these chapters ahead of time, which is exciting for me._** ** _But! After Goblet of Fire, the years are going to be a lot more condensed, things will start to happen a lot quicker, so when we're done with this year, just know the ball will really be rolling._**

 ** _But after that, it just means I get to go back through, make things work better, through back in the plot I wanted for the minor characters so not everything is being consumed by Hurricane Mina and Fred, and rewrite some things in whole. I'm excited for it, but also excited we're this far in the first draft! You guys, I've never written anything this far before, and I am so thrilled because I will at least finish the first draft if it's the last thing I do._**


	56. Chapter 56

Mina would have been glad to just go to her room and throw herself a little pity party. Hell, she would've been fine with continuing it in the garden, but people were still coming back from Hogsmeade, and she didn't want to go through the embarrassment of explaining to strangers why she was crying.

 _Oh you see, I realized I liked this guy who I hated, but had previously hated before liked him again, and because the universe likes tormenting me we can never be together. Anyway, so when's dinner?_

They would take her to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that she was insane, and she couldn't handle the pitying look her instructor would give her once she found the reason out.

She should just push herself past all of this, and yet her heart wouldn't let her.

So, pity party for one it was.

That is, until she caught Harry and Hermione sitting on some stairs by themselves. She wasn't sure what drew her in, she knew Hermione sure but she wasn't very close to her boy wonder best friend, and it seemed like a sad moment. Something about their expressions spoke to her though. She felt maybe, just maybe, they knew what she was feeling as well.

"You have room for one more?" she asked, already making her way into the room. She sat herself on the stairs next to Hermione, and let out a breath as she dropped her head into her hands. "I hope I haven't just made this awkward, and that I've read the room right."

She heard the two younger students shifting next to her, and she assumed they were exchanging looks. Nevertheless, she continued speaking.

"I'm not going to the ball with the person I want to, because I think he hates me", she took a long breath, before turning her head in her hands to look at them, "sound familiar?"

A beat passed before Hermione spoke up.

"I'm going with Viktor Krum, and he's such a sweet guy. Really, he makes me feel special."

Mina could sense the hesitation. "But?"

Hermione bit her lip. "But... I would rather be going with someone else. Sometimes, I think he really likes me, but other times he just treats me so cruel, I can't help but feel hopeless."

Hopeless was a word Mina could relate to. Her eyes drifted to Harry. She could feel him backing off, and she understood, but she couldn't help but reach out to him in this moment. Whether they knew each other or not was irrelevant.

"What about you, kid?" She asked softly, waiting on Harry's answer.

"I... I asked the girl I like and she's going with someone else."

A moment of understanding passed through them, as they realized their situations all were not favorable.

"That sucks." She held her eyes on his, and she hoped she was able to express all the things she really wanted to say through the look. "Really it does." They sat there, until Hermione looked at her.

"Who's got you bent out of shape?" Mina raised an eyebrow. She thought they were going for anonymity? She wasn't sure if she was ready to verbalize the things she's only just realized she's feeling. Hermione could sense her tense, and she quickly added on, "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

Torn between wanting to know and not wanting to admit it, she waited. She waited so long, Hermione had probably given up on waiting for an answer. Eventually, the words fell out of her mouth, so soft that she wasn't sure if they would hear it.

"Fred." She waited a moment, and looked over to them before she said it a little louder. "It's Fred."

"I think it's a Weasley trait to be an absolute idiot then," Hermione said gently, and she could feel both the anger and love for the person she was talking about. "Ron never asked me, despite the fact I practically asked him myself."

Mina's eyes drifted back over to Harry once again, who had been quietly listening.

"Don't tell me you've joined the Weasley pity party?"

"What?" He asked quickly. "No. It's Cho Chang. She's going with Cedric." The last bit came out hard.

"Ah," Mina hummed the breath out, "well, at least someone's free of them." Hermione snorted, but she wasn't sure if it was in agreement, or if she knew something she didn't. She didn't push it. "That sucks still, I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you something bad about Cedric to make you feel better about it, but I can't." He gave her an annoyed look, almost asking why she had brought it up then. "I just don't know him, other than what gossip pushes around. Still, It doesn't make it any easier on you."

She thought that might be the end of it, that he just wasn't interested in the conversation more than that.

"What about you? There's more to it, right?" He asked hesitantly. Hesitant because he was afraid she didn't want to ask, or hesitant because he didn't want the answer, she didn't know. Still she appreciated him asking.

"It's kind of a long story," she said, a half laugh in her words, turning the meaning sour as she thought about it.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want, but we do have time, we're not exactly in a rush to do anything here."

"Yeah, and I kind of would like to know." Hermione chimed in.

She pulled her knees into her chest and sighed. Opening her mouth, she didn't even know where to start. But eventually, the words just came out.

"Fred and I didn't like each other to begin with. It's bad blood going back to our first year, but last year was the first point of us being civil towards each other. We were actually friends, and I found myself liking him a lot. Summer came and really messed things up, and now it's not a possibility." Her tone was cold and empty as she said her next words. "He's with someone else, and he's done some cruel things to me. I shouldn't like him, but I can't help myself." She shook her head and let out a breath. "I think I might be going crazy."

However shortened down it was, it was nice to be able to express herself without feeling the absolute pity of her friends. She didn't want them to view her as broken. She didn't need to be carefully watched, she was strong. Still, it was nice to let her walls down.

"You're not crazy," Hermione said, "you just like him. It does weird things to the brain, but you'll get through it. We all will."

They sat there longer, and Mina felt validated. The last thing she had wanted earlier was to be around other people, but a pity party for three was actually helping her.

"Hey Hermione? If you want you can get ready for the ball with Anne and me in our rooms. It'll be a little bit away from the Gryffindor tower if you need a break. If Ginny's got a date and is going you can invite her as well." She seemed to mule it over, and Mina quickly chimed in looking at Harry. "Of course, you're welcome as well Harry. You'd just be up in the boys dorm and I'm not sure if you know any of them."

He shook his head. "It's fine. I'll get ready in mine. Ron might have a heart attack putting his dress robes on, and someone has to be there to pick him back on."

Hermione snorted.

"Mina I think I'd like that. I'll let Ginny know that you invited her. She's going with Neville, so she might want to get ready in our tower."

Harry's eyebrow twitched, and Mina couldn't help but wonder if they weren't all truly free of the Weasley's but she wouldn't say anything on the topic.

* * *

 ** _Guess who's writing this update day? It's me. Basically I put this off because I was studying, and then realized that I also had an essay I needed to do, so this first then the essay (because that makes sense clearly). Are you guy's close to finals? Or are you already done with the semester?_**

 ** _Also, pretty exciting, we're probably going to be at the yule ball next chapter. It's probably going to span a couple of chapters since I write them kind of small, but I think it's going to be pretty exciting._**


	57. Chapter 57

She would be lying if she were to say to wasn't nervous. For several reasons.

Mina was worried about if Hermione and Anne were on well enough terms that getting ready wouldn't be an issue. She was worried that she would be miserable the entire ball. She was worried the sight of Fred and Angelina would shatter her heart, and she wouldn't be strong enough to handle it. She was worried.

Yet, her tensions slowly started to dissipate as Anne and Hermione happily giggled and helped each other get ready.

She smiled at her friends, but couldn't quite quell her nerves entirely.

Her appearance was one thing she could control, but her emotions were another thing. She straightened her hair, looking at her reflection blank-faced. Would she be better off to not go at all?

No.

She wasn't going to allow her feelings to have free roam of her life. She would go to the ball, and she would have a good time. She wasn't going to let Angelina and Fred ruin it for her. The stubborn part of her wanted them to have a good time. Still, her emotions pulled at her heart strings at the thought of them together all she would do her best to not let it show. She was going to have fun tonight with her friends, and she didn't need to be with a guy to do so.

When she was finished getting ready she did a once over of herself in a mirror.

Sure she was a little self conscious of the fact she was a ravenclaw wearing blue, but she almost scoffed at herself as she smoothed her dress down. Was she supposed to avoid the color entirely? No. She wouldn't. She was stubborn and she looked good.

Twirling in the mirror, she felt confident.

Raising her chin, she met eyes in her reflection. Mina Donnelly was not weak. She did not need a man to like her to feel validated. She would have a good time tonight, to show the universe she was so much more than her emotions. Her dress may have been a cool blue, but she could feel her confidence becoming red hot and fiery.

Her friends all looked amazing, and their confidence was through the roof. If she didn't know better, there had been something in the air.

They laughed with each other as they moved through the halls of the castle, a pep in their step.

"Okay, you guys, I've got to go. You both look amazing. Have a good time tonight," Hermione said, starting to fast walk away. Mina couldn't hide her smile. She had to be down in the great hall early with Viktor Krum, a the champions and their dates had to have the first dance. It was clear she was excited, and Mina was glad for her. Maybe one of them could get over the Weasley's.

"Where's she off to in such a hurry?" Anne asked. The light reflected off her beautifully and her updo was perfect, even with the loose pieces not caught in the hairstyle. Still, her lips found themselves in a slight smile, already knowing the answer.

"Mmmm," Mina hummed as if she was trying to figure it out, "I think she has a date."

Anne let out a fake gasp. "That's exciting. I probably would've run all the way there."

Mina raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you have a date? Who you still haven't told me about, by the way."

Anne brushed it off with a wave, and a small 'you'll see'. Her interest was slowly peaking, but she wouldn't push it. Whoever her friend had snagged would be lucky. She turned the corner and started to walk down the stairs and Mina was just a few steps behind her.

Her hand clutched the railing with a death grip as she watched her steps slowly. Maybe heels were a mistake. She'd be lucky if she didn't twist her ankle by the end of the night. When she only had a third of the stairs left to go she sparred a look up, and that was a mistake.

Not because she was going to fall. That wasn't even a thing she was thinking about in this moment.

No, she saw Fred. He looked incredibly handsome in his outfit, and his red tie, while most likely just in reference to his house, complimented him well. And who wasn't weak at a guy in a suit?

She realized he had been staring at her, and their gazes met. She held it, and hadn't even realized she had successfully made it to the bottom of the stairs. What seemed like such a big hurdle earlier was over, but her stomach danced anxiously as he made his way over to her.

"Mina, hey, you look," he took a breath, trying to find the right words, "amazing."

She smoothed her dress anxiously. "Thank you, you look good too. This is all kind of exciting, isn't it?"

She hoped her small talk was enough to cover the fact that their last conversation hadn't been very civil. Fred sighed, almost wishfully. "I think I'm more nervous than anything." Her eyes dashed over to Angelina who was watching them with hawk eyes, almost as if she was waiting for one of them to slip up. Her stomach dropped coolly, and she pushed a grin on her face as she looked back at him.

"I think I know what you mean."

"Mina, look," he continued anxiously, "I just wanted to apologize. For the last time we actually talked." His words came out awkwardly, and he ran a hand at the back of his neck, almost shamefully. "I got incredibly drunk the night before and had a massive headache, and was taking the fact that I felt bad out on you. I'm not excusing my behavior, I was cruel and you didn't deserve it. And for that I'm sorry, really."

She blinked in surprise. His words had been harsh, but they weren't entirely what caused her pain. It was the fact that he had brushed what they had said the night before a side. Her brain twinged at her words a little, but she pushed them away.

"Fred, I get it. Still, it hurt, and an apology won't just cement over it."

"And I get that, but," this time his hand went to his hair, and he took another staggered breath, "but-"

"There you are!"

Her bubble popped, and no longer was her focus entirely on Fred. The hall was full of people, and she wondered how had she missed them. Approaching them was Nikolai, a chipper smile on his face and a glittering suit on. It was a black suit, but with a little oomph to it. A grin came across her face. Trust Nikolai to really step up the game. As he approached he put his hand on the small of her back, still leaving a distance between them.

"It's an absolute nightmare trying to find anyone right now. But boy am I glad I went with this suit, really pulls our looks together. You look amazing by the way." She smiled up at him and was about the return the compliment, when she was cut off.

"I though you were going alone?" Fred asked confused, his eyebrows bunching together.

"I am. We're just, going alone together." She finished awkwardly.

His eyes dashed down to Nikolai's arm briefly, before they were back on Mina's face. "Okay. Well, we can talk later. You two have fun, alright?" His smile was forced, and he retreated in on himself and back to Angelina.

"What was that about?" Nikolai prodded curiously.

"I have no idea." She had almost whispered the words, but now it was her turn to furrow her eyebrows. She was trying to put all the pieces together but she knew she was missing too much.

"Well look, Anne's holding us a spot in line to get in. We should probably get over there." She nodded, still trying to figure out the mystery that was Fred Weasley.

They made their way over to Anne, who was excitedly waving them down, and chatted for a small amount of time before Mina's eyes turned to slivers.

"Oh no, not tonight."

"What?" Anne turned in confusion, trying to see what she was seeing.

"This is not the start to the night I wanted. Jae, that snake, is headed this way. Anne, hold my bag, I might have to throw hands."

Anne bit her lip nervously for a moment. "Actually, you don't have to do that."

Mina gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? Of course I have to, I'm not going to let her come over here and ruin the night before it's even started."

"No you don't because... well, because she's my date."

"What?" She was confused. How couldn't she be? Anne and Jae did not like each other remotely, why would they go to the ball together.

"It's kind of a long story, but we're actually kind of seeing each other." She took in her friend's confused expression. "I can explain later."

Mina looked on confused as Jae came over and gave Anne a kiss on the cheek, and as Anne put an arm around the taller woman's waist. They didn't look like they were about to claw each others eyes out, which was odd. Maybe she was actually telling her the truth. But then, that would mean Anne hadn't told her anything about this. She almost felt hurt but then a thought came to her mind.

It wasn't Anne's job, Mina should've been there to see the signs. Even then, Anne probably felt that adding it to her plate would've thrown Mina entirely off balance as her world was already off kilter with the entire Fred drama. Who would want to add to the disaster that was Hurricane Mina?

She watched on as they interacted, offering smiles every now in then, feeling awful. She had never even thought to ask Anne.

Mina was a terrible friend.

She was so wrapped up in the drama of her love life that she had missed her friend when she had probably needed her most.

* * *

 _ **A little bit of a longer chapter this week, ooooo we're so close to Mina and Fred talking I can almost taste it. Who's ready?**_


	58. Chapter 58

Despite her initial thoughts, Mina was actually having a good time at the ball. She had almost forgotten about Angelina and Fred. Still, lingering at the corner of her mind and the dance floor, they haunted her, an ever present reminder of what couldn't be.

It seemed no amount of avoiding them was possible, every way she turned they were there. She was certain Nikolai had caught on to what she was doing, how could he not he was her date, but she didn't care. Well, she did, and that was why she was trying so hard to get away from them.

"I think it's time to move again," Nikolai said into her ear. Her face started to turn a shade of red with the rising feeling of embarrassment, but she played it coy.

"Why would that be?" She hoped he didn't know. He gave her a look, and her heart sank slightly as she knew that he knew.

"Because Fred and Angelina have miraculously shown up near us again? Weird how that happens?" He asked like she had any part in the matter. She was the one trying to get away from them.

"Well, it's not like I'm not trying."

He smiled. "Very clearly you're trying. I just wonder which one of them is the one with the magic appearing act."

It was something she'd been thinking of all along. She thought Angelina was her friend, but she hadn't really been in touch with her since she had started dating Fred. Was she pushing the two of them towards her maliciously? No. Mina didn't think she had a bad bone in her body. Which left Fred, with his apology. It meant nothing to her. Well, a little bit of her had accepted it, but still, the pain he had caused her, and only for him to not mention what he had done the night before? It had only made the wound sting more. Was he trying to get close to her to reapologize? To work his way over to her and back into her heart? She didn't want that to happen. She may not have been over him, but she certainly wasn't going to roll out the red carpet for him either.

 _Oh Fred, I know you've broken my heart, but your apology was just so beautiful._

She could've snorted. She wasn't going to give him an open invitation to mess with her heart. And yet, there still was that tiny part of her, the dumb part of her, that wanted to give him it anyways.

Anne tapped on her shoulder and gestured to the side of the dance floor. Mina followed her curiously, cocking an eyebrow at the girl as she twiddled her fingers almost nervously. Anne never got nervous. Still, she didn't push it, instead waiting for her to speak at her own pace.

"Mina," she drawled out, as if that would stop the next words from spilling out of her mouth, "There's something I need to tell you about." Her gaze darted behind her, and as Mina turned to see what she was looking at she saw Jae. Her mouth automatically turned downwards, but she caught herself before she turned back to look at Anne.

"About you and Jae? Look, I get it. You two were massively at arms, well I don't know until when, but I would've understood it. Well, maybe I would've been a little confused at first, and I still have to get over Jae just being _Jae_ , but I trust you." She put a hand on Anne's arm to comfort her. Confusion showed in her eyes.

"What? No that's not it, I've got something I need to tell you about Fred and Angelina." Anne couldn't help herself, she was going to come clean of this whole mess, and Mina could finally be happy, and that little snake Angelina could finally get what was coming for her.

Mina's face turned angry.

"Why does everybody keep bringing them up? I just want to have a nice night free of them." She was grinding her teeth, and she was growing so frustrated she was trying to push back the well of tears in her eyes.

Anne watched her carefully before smiling.

"You're right. You looked so happy earlier, I'm sorry for bringing them up. And so pretty, you could be a double for Cinderella. Now go, find your Prince Charming tonight, this can wait until later."

Mina felt bad for the outburst with her friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I'm just so frustrated with this mess. You didn't deserve that."

"You have no idea how frustrated this whole thing makes me too," and she meant that with her whole heart, "but you're right. we could use one night with no drama. I can tell you back at the dorms when we're getting ready for bed."

"Thank you," Mina said. And she meant that entirely.

Anne patted her arm, before throwing on a huge smile. "Now go. Go have fun, go dance with someone crazy hot. I was serious, i want you to go find your Prince Charming, someone who makes you forget about this whole mess. Go," she shooed her with giggles in her breath, "go. Have a good time."

Mina turned to look back and her friend was gone. _Off to go have some fun herself, probably._ She turned back around and just about ran into someone's chest.

"Hey."

* * *

His night could be going better.

Angelina had met him in the hallway wearing a red dress, _to match his tie_ , but that was wear he had pretty much stopped paying attention to her. A small part of him felt bad, but the rest of him was wondering if she had actually done what Anne and Ginny had said she had, and then he felt less bad. He could deal with her later. Instead, he was too busy being completely enraptured by Mina walking down the stairs.

Time seemed to stand still, and while he was sure people were still talking, for all he knew everyone had gone silent and were completely in awe at her. And why wouldn't they? She looked as beautiful as she always did. He smiled at her dress as it twinkled in the light. It must've been enchanted, because while very subtle, the sparkles gave an impression of stars. Which made him smile for another reason entirely, thinking of the conversation they had had. He thought that maybe it was a sign he hadn't completely screwed things up.

But then he tried to apologize, and it didn't go as planned. He would catch her at a later point, and explain himself. Still, that was proving harder to pull off than he had thought.

She was proving to be extremely difficult to catch, as she was working her way all across the dance floor. It wasn't easy to move through all the bodies, but still, he managed it. Angelina wasn't happy with him, but that didn't matter. He just needed to talk to Mina. Finally he saw his chance when Anne had dragged her friend off to the side to talk to her. While he hoped Anne would be buttering Mina up for him, she knew that that probably wasn't going to happen. The plan they had made had basically relied on Fred entirely. And oh what a good job he was doing.

* * *

Mina looked up and met Fred's eyes, and she was almost sure she let out a scream. Or maybe it was just her silently screaming in her head. She must've looked like a deer in headlights. She had worked so hard to avoid this.

"Hey."

"Oh, hi." She tried moving past him. He side stepped in front of her.

"Look, we didn't get the chance to talk earlier. Can we?"

She feigned an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I told Nikolai I'd be right back, he's waiting for me now." Proving once again the universe was not on her side, Nikolai came strolling off the dance floor.

"Mina I'm getting pretty tired, I'm going to sit out for one dance." He turned to look at Fred, feigning surprise at seeing him. Fred may not have caught it, but he had his scheming face on. Mina was silently sending the message to shut up to him, but if he was hearing them, he was ignoring her. "Oh, Fred. Hi! What a pleasant surprise. Mina, you could go dance with Fred, I know how much you said you wanted to keep dancing."

She opened her mouth to tell him off. Or to come up with an excuse as to why she could no longer dance. He cut her off before she could even start.

"Don't even worry about my feelings, I'll live without you for one dance. I'll come get you after it though." A song came on and Fred took her hand gently, leading her. Mina cast a look of her shoulder mouthing to Nikolai. _Traitor._ He rolled his eyes. _Talk it out_ , he mouthed. As if there was anything for them to talk about. No thank you. She was perfectly fine bottling everything up and never addressing it. And she would tell Fred that.

Universe against her yet again, it was a slow song. She draped her arms around his neck, and maintained a wide distance between them. Still, his arms drew her in as they wrapped around her waist, and she found herself fighting between the desire to melt into him and to turn and run. She met her feelings in the middle, pushing a small distance between them.

"Mina," he sighed, "I don't even know where to start."

"Then don't," her voice came out softer than she wanted it too, all the bite of her words disappearing, "not now."

She begged to whatever higher power that he got the message that was 'not never', but as his arms tightened slightly, she was certain even her voice had betrayed her. No one seemed to be on her side, not even herself.

The entire dance was her fighting to not melt into his arms and spend the entire evening there. But she was strong. She wasn't actually, but she had a friend who stuck to his word. Nikolai popped up out of no where when the song ended and stole her away, and finally she could breathe and feel her brain beginning to work. He lead her outside and that helped as well.

"You two looked awful friendly in there."

"No thanks to you."

"I wasn't the one who made you two dance that close. Now, did I go and request a slow song? That's something else entirely."

She gasped and gently hit his shoulder. He feigned a hurt noise.

"Why would you do that, when you know I've been avoiding him all night?"

"Because he hasn't been trying to avoid you. Clearly, you both have something unresolved going on. It's better to face those things head on instead of running away."

"You don't know the whole story, I'm trying to not get hurt."

They stopped walking and he starred at her for a minute. "You're hurting yourself anyways, you might as well hear what he has to say."

She spotted a bench and all but fell on it, letting her hands catch her head. "I don't want to."

He laughed. "I think it's very obvious that you don't want to," he let out another small chuckle, "Mina Donelly, you can be very strange, and sometimes I don't get you. Don't you find yourself at least a little curious to why he's been chasing you down?"

He planted the words in her head, and she sat and mulled on it. Now that he brought it up, she was rather curious. Still, she was stubborn. She wouldn't admit to it.

"I think," Nikolai started, placing a hand on hers," that you should hear him out, at least for yourself. It's killing you, this whole mess, and frankly I'd like to see some of that Mina spark again."

They sat in silence for a minute, Nikolai having said his piece and Mina knowing that he was right. Merlin, did he have to be right?

Footsteps approached them, but she ignored them, keeping her head in her hands to avoid coming to truth with what had been said to her. Someone cleared their voice, and still, she did not look up. Let Nikolai deal with whoever, she was having a crisis of her own.

"Can I speak to Mina for a second?" She closed her eyes, and the trio seemed to pause. She knew that voice. How could she not know that voice? She had just danced with its owner. She could feel Nikolai stand up, and she heard a soft pat, and if she wasn't freaking out she would've laughed at the encouraging shoulder touch exchanged by the men. She heard someone sit next to her, and she took a deep breath, summoning up her courage, and took her head out of her hands.

"Hey."

"Hey," she breathed, meeting her eyes with Fred's.

* * *

 _ **OOOOOOOo ya'll. We're almost there. Isn't this exciting? I can't wait for Mina to know everything, how about ya'll?**_

 _ **Okay, I'm running way late for stuff today, as I'm writing this update day, so this is all you guys get until next week.**_


	59. Chapter 59

"Hey."

"Hey." Mina shifted her dress away from Fred as he took a seat next to her. She played with the fabric, waiting for him to talk, but not quite wanting to take the initiative for the conversation she knew needed to happen.

She wasn't even sure what she wanted out of this.

Hear him out? Sure.

But he could say anything. And if she had to deal with her feelings for him, she might scream. Or cry. Or both. She wanted to bury them deep down, only to never confront them again, but here they were resurfacing next to her despite her best wishes.

They sat silently, as Mina waited for Fred and as she assumed Fred was trying to figure out his words, together on that bench as the night sky shone down on them.

"So," Fred finally said, drawing it out as if he knew they needed to talk, but he also wanted to avoid the conversation. She looked over at him, hesitantly dropping her dress from her hands, ready to hear him out. He froze.

Mina raised her eyebrows slightly, waiting for the rest of his sentence to come out of his open mouth.

He smiled, and shook his head slightly, before looking back at her. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," her voice tinged with confusion, and her heart hung with dread as the topic of their conversation still wasn't clear, "you wanted to talk about something?"

His smile fell, and part of her wanted to take it back, and just let him sit in whatever moment he had just been in. But she didn't and now they were here. The air hanging awkwardly around them, as he stared down at his hands in his lap.

"Things have obviously been a little awkward around us. I figured we should probably talk about whatever, because I would like to go back to being able to hang out with you."

"I _am_ pretty great," she said, and he laughed, before bumping her shoulder with his.

"That's the Mina I missed." He murmured under his breath and she only barely caught his words. A blush worked its way across her face, and she nervously tucked a nonexistent piece of hair behind her ear.

She gulped for air, suddenly feeling way too hot despite the cool breeze.

"Where to start?" she asked to him, but mostly to herself.

"Why did you leave my house so suddenly over the summer?" He looked at her with a soft gaze, and despite the lack of pressure she felt, her hands grew clammy and her walls started to come back up.

"I forgot I had told my uncle I would be at his house early that morning," she said a little too fast, and he looked at her for a moment longer questionably.

"Really?"

"Mhm."

He watched her still, and she averted her gaze from his. "I don't believe you," she gasped for words, but he continued, "but you obviously don't want to talk about whatever, so I'll leave it. For now. I wrote you after that, why didn't you respond to any of my letters?"

Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What letters?"

She could feel him growing frustrated, and he ran a hand through his hair as he let out an annoyed breath. "Pretending to not know about them doesn't help anything. Mina I sent you several letters, and I know they were received because I never had anything returned. If you didn't want to reply, then say that, but don't pretend that I didn't send them."

Mina felt insulted. As if she would pretend to not get a letter from him, what benefit would she get from that?

"I didn't get any letters, so I have no idea what you're talking about. And I don't like the insinuation that I would gaslight you just for the fun of it."

What about the World Cup?"

"What about the World Cup?" she asked, finding herself becoming more defensive by the moment.

"You were different. You didn't seem the same, and you had some guy with you."

She let out a breath.

She wasn't stupid, she could read the insinuation. She couldn't have any other friends? He was upset she had other friends when he was dating one of her friends? Maybe his apology earlier had been fake. Maybe he really was heartless, and didn't care about her feelings. He only cared about the reaction he got out of her.

"Nikolai?" She asked, trying to get a check on her temper, but already knowing it was a hopeless attempt. She was getting too worked up.

"And you go around with him all the time, completely ignoring your other friends." His voice was raising, and she rose form the bench. She didn't need this. He wanted to talk, and she could handle talking. She wouldn't sit here and be accused of things, and have her choices picked apart by him. He was one to talk.

"Newsflash, I'm allowed to have other friends." She grabbed her bag off the bench, done with this entirely. He stood up.

"But I don't want to be just-"

"-Fred?"

Angelina's voice cut through like a cold breeze. They both shut their mouths, Mina grinding her teeth. She took her time walking over, but when she finally reached them she wrapped her hands around Fred's arm. Fred seemed annoyed, but she was sure it was because she didn't want to sit patiently as he criticized all her life choices.

Angelina smirked at Mina as she spoke. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Nope." The word harshly left her mouth.

"Then you don't mind if I steal him, do you?"

Mina met Fred's eyes as she snapped out her words. "Go for it, he's all yours." She turned to walk away. Angelina was supposed to be her friend, but she was almost sure that they were a couple meant to be together solely to torment her.

She managed a few steps before she heard some shuffling and then some footsteps.

"Wait," a hand fell on her shoulder, and she turned, but she shrugged it off angrily, "Mina we have to talk."

"No, _we_ don't. I'm done. I'm not just going to sit there as you pick things out that you don't like about my life and make up lies about me." Her eyes drifted behind him, to Angelina looking upset, standing where they were a moment ago.

"I'm not doing that."

"Yes, you are. I'm not going to have an argument about this." She turned but she was stopped again.

"You can't just ignore the people that care about you."

"Oh, so now you care about me?"

"Mina, of course I do."

"Because it doesn't feel like it-"

"-That's what I've been trying to talk to you about-"

"-well you've been doing an awful job of it."

"You drive me insane," he said, and she felt her temper reach her ears. If he couldn't stand her then why try to talk to her.

"Then I'm leaving."

"No, don't." He touched her shoulder again, and she jerked it off.

"Don't touch me." He held his hands up. "You don't own me, I don't have to listen to you, I'm leaving." She turned once again, ready to walk.

"You can't just ignore all your problems."

"Watch me," she began walking.

"This isn't how you treat your friends." Those words stopped her better than his hand had at any point.

She turned back, to him. "Oh? Then how do you treat your _friends_? Ignore them? Rub their feelings in their faces? Get upset with them when they get hurt when you do that?"

"Mina-"

"Don't," she held up a finger, "you wanted me to _talk_. So now I'm talking. No really, _Fred_ , tell me how I'm supposed to treat my friends, because I wouldn't know from mine clearly. Do I get angry when they make other friends? Do I take my girlfriend and spend so much time I'm ignoring my friends, and then get upset when my friends spend their time doing something else."

"Mina, why are you so worked up?"

"Why am I so worked up? Are you kidding me? You opened this can of worms and then pretend you don't know-"

"-because I _don't_ know."

Her voice snapped, "bull. Fred, you keep me around hanging thinking I might be right, and then come around with Angelina at all times. You get upset with me when I make _one_ friend. You ignore me, and then when I track you down and _actually_ tell you how I fell, you think it's perfectly fime jsut to play with my feelings. You insult me by telling me that I'm purposefully lying to you, you insinuate that because I'm not devoting every second of my day to you that I'm a terrible friend, and you have the nerve to pretend like I'm the one in the wrong in all of this?" She could feel the sting of tears at the back of her eyes, but she wouldn't let him see her cry.

"Mina," he snapped, "You're taking all this stuff out on me, when I haven't-"

"-you haven't? What tunnel have you been living in?-"

"-and I don't appreciate you taking all this out on me-"

"-I'm not doing it for no reason-"

"-yes you are, I've got no idea why you're doing this-"

"-Because I like you." She snapped.

Then she paused, realizing what she actually said. So much for keeping it buried down. Her tears felt hot, as they welled up, and while it was only a second she felt as if she stood there for years. He reached an arm out to her, and she dodged his grasp, not even letting him touch her. She stepped backwards, no longer able to hide her tears, and then turned to run.

Mina was barely able to find her way out of the ball, but managed to get away. She could hear the sniffles of other girls who's night went about as well as hers, but she didn't stop already too caught up in her own problems. She could faintly hear someone yelling her name, but she pushed her legs to run faster, to run farther, to just make it back to the safety of her dorm.

She didn't stop running until she was in her bed, her breath heavy from the exercise and from the breakdown she was about to have.

They were probably having a good time making fun of her, and how they finally had won. Her life was ruined.

As she had her breakdown, she wondered why she even bothered coming to the ball she knew it was going to me nothing less than a mess.

* * *

 _ **Okay writing this halfway through update day, but this'll go up because I'll be damned if it doesn't.**_

 _ **Also, I totally use certain phrases so many times as one of you pointed out with 'running into someones chest' and that's something I'll have to work on *writes that Mina runs into someones chest next chapter*. Also, Grammarly def sounds like a good idea, it's not something I would have even considered, although I think I'll hold off until the rewrite because I know I'll be overhauling a decent chunk of chapters and plots and as it is I'm writing chapters late and it's just one more thing on a list for me to do for this that might make me feel more burned out on this story than I already am. But the rewrite is far game for it.**_

 _ **The fact that you guys are so sweet with your reviews despite the very many errors I have in here (and will continue to have) really touches my heart. Thank you all so much!**_


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